A growing auction giant and a troubled photography legend were passing ships in the past week. Let's take a closer look.
Why can't we just capitalize the "E" and lowercase the "B"?
The world's leading online auctioneer was a highlight during a busy week of earnings reports. And like some of the offerings at its signature site, eBay's
Quarter | U.S. Marketplace Revenue Growth |
---|---|
Q1 2004 | 39% |
Q2 2004 | 32% |
Q3 2004 | 29% |
Q4 2004 | 24% |
Q1 2005 | 20% |
Q2 2005 | 27% |
Q3 2005 | 29% |
That's good. That's really good, in fact. However, with its faster-growing PayPal and international auction business increasing over last year's production by just 44% and 43%, respectively, is eBay itself really worth 48 times next year's earnings?
If so, the company is going to have to milk quite a bit out of its head-turning Skype acquisition. Spending as much as $4.1 billion on a communications software giant for freeloaders, eBay had better latch on to any potential synergies before the market starts interpreting the purchase as subtraction through addition.
The potential for greatness is certainly there. eBay is already popular, and if Skype helps to introduce the online transaction process to an old-fashioned audience that prefers to work out fulfillment by talking to a warm voice at the other end of the handshake, eBay's marketplace -- and its value to bidders and listers alike -- will grow.
The company has already proved that it can vanquish auction site pretenders like Overstock.com
Eastman called; he wants his name back on the moniker
What to make of Kodak
Then again, this is also coming at a time when Kodak's stock is hitting rock-bottom, and even the company's attempt this week to sugarcoat its hideous quarter isn't working. Kodak's latest financial report has more red than the eyes in a bad flash photo.
So, sure, let the scanner revolutionize the photo-finishing industry. Let's just hope that Kodak can get the red out along the way, too.
The headlines behind this week's stories:
Until next week, I remain,
Amazon.com and eBay are Motley Fool Stock Advisor recommendations, while Overstock.com was singled out last year in the Rule Breakers newsletter service.
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Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz doesn't keep old photos in a shoebox. He doesn't even keep shoes in a shoebox. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. The Fool has a disclosure policy. He is also part of theRule Breakersnewsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early.