eBay reinstated with a Buy at Needham

Needham reinstated coverage of eBay (EBAY) with a Buy rating and $72 price target eBay is already “best in-class” at driving frequency among its “enthusiast” buyer base, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm sees the potential for the company to maintain leadership positions through leveraging machine learning to improve search and discovery, which it says is still a major opportunity. eBay’s focus on non-new in-season items is a “thread that connects seemingly disparate items together and allows the company to cross-sell and increase frequency and importantly differentiates the marketplace” from Amazon and other competitors, contends Needham.