What happened
Storied e-commerce company eBay (EBAY -0.01%) was having a good week. As of the close of trading on Thursday, the company's shares were up by over 11% week to date, according to data compiled by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The stock benefited from a general investor return to tech titles, plus a new and rather bullish analyst note.
So what
Over the past few days, quite a few tech stocks have rallied, as investors pile into them looking for bargains. Many had sold off heavily, as part of a general flight to assets considered to be less risky. Investors, it seems, are reacquiring their taste for risk (although it has to be said that the leading companies in the sector -- Apple, for example, are comparatively safe plays).
Image source: Getty Images.
eBay was particularly vulnerable to a sell-off, as it reported a decline in sales volumes in its most recent quarterly earnings report. It also disappointed with its full-year 2022 guidance.
Meanwhile, a large financial institution became an eBay bull earlier in the week. Tuesday morning, Deutsche Bank initiated coverage of the tech company's stock with a buy recommendation, at a price target of $64 per share. That implies nearly 15% upside to the most recent closing share price of $55.67.
Analyst Lee Horowitz acknowledged that the company's recent fundamentals have been lackluster, however, writing, "We believe that the market is under-appreciating eBay's positioning within the secular growth trends associated around re-commerce and, more importantly, the impressive executional focus that has followed CEO Jamie Iannone's arrival."
Now what
Horowitz also believes that eBay will do notably better this year than it anticipates. "Despite a [full-year 2022] volume guidance that likely disappointed many, we believe the numbers screen as highly conservative and now reflect a worst-case outcome," he said. The performance of the stock since then indicates that investors might be buying this argument.
