What happened
Shares of Etsy (ETSY 3.63%) were climbing today, although there was no major news pushing the stock higher. On a flat day for the market, a number of growth stocks surged, potentially in hopes of a multitrillion-dollar stimulus package once Joe Biden becomes president, as he has already proposed. Additionally, in a blog post about Valentine's Day, Etsy reported a number of impressive growth figures around searches in the last three months.
Since the company hasn't yet provided a holiday update, investors may be responding favorably to those search figures as they're looking for hints into holiday performance.
The stock was up 13.4% as of 11:58 a.m. EST on Tuesday.
Image source: Etsy.
So what
The fourth quarter is historically Etsy's strongest, since much of the company's business comes from gifts, and investors are eager to see results from the holiday period after analysts projected revenue to jump 88%.
Etsy's search results show that demand on the platform has remained strong over the past three months. During that time, searches for Valentine's Day cards are up 38%, a sign the company is gaining significant share in the greeting card market. It also had a 1,183% jump in cocktail DIY kits, likely a popular gift during the holidays with bars and nightlife generally off-limits.
And searches for personalized pet items were up 85%, while searches for bath bombs and salts jumped 163%, another trend likely driven by spending more time at home.
Now what
Macro-level data has shown that e-commerce sales jumped during the holidays. Mastercard SpendingPulse said online sales jumped 49% from Oct. 11 to Dec. 24, the period making up most of the fourth quarter. It also reported that e-commerce sales rose from 13.4% of total retail sales in that period in 2019 to 19.7%.
Etsy shares just wrapped up a phenomenal 2020, with the stock quadrupling. And the combination of a friendly market environment and an ongoing pandemic, as well as positive search data going into the new year, seems to have investors feeling bullish on the stock again.
