Certainly, eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) is one of the world’s great retailers, perpetual yard sales, and window shopping venues all at once. But, much to the dismay of the ads, eBay no longer takes American Express (NYSE:AXP). That revelation led eBay investors to pull back and take around 1.5% of eBay’s market cap with them in Wednesday afternoon’s trading.
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It’s no secret that shoppers have plenty of options when it comes to paying for things on eBay. That’s likely how eBay prefers it; the more options shoppers have, the less likely payment is to be an impediment to shopping therein. But eBay grew tired of the “unacceptably high fees” that American Express cards come with, so it pulled the card as an option for shopping the platform.
Oddly enough, this may do eBay more harm than good; reports also noted that American Express shoppers tend to be brisk buyers, spending the most money on average on a monthly basis. However, American Express’ fees have drawn merchant ire before, and this is just the latest such case.
Entering the AI Stakes
Meanwhile, eBay is out to make listing items just a little easier, thanks to artificial intelligence (AI). The latest push eBay is making into AI features the ability to replace an image’s background with a new one generated by AI. No longer do you need to take pictures of fancy dinnerware against your avocado-colored kitchen wallpaper; now, you can set it on a backdrop that makes it look special.
Also, eBay has teamed up with renowned gamer and “sneakerhead” Alhan Gencay to allow gamers to compete against Gencay to find digital sneakers and, should they succeed, win prizes.
What Is the Prediction for eBay Stock?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on EBAY stock based on seven Buys, 12 Holds, and one Sell assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 19.78% rally in its share price over the past year, the average EBAY price target of $52.94 per share implies 0.05% upside potential.
