Shares of eBay (EBAY) are down 7% in premarket trading after the e-commerce company provided weak forward guidance for the current fourth quarter of the year.
For this year’s third quarter, eBay reported revenue of $2.5 billion U.S., up 5% from a year ago and in line with Wall Street forecasts.
The company also announced earnings per share (EPS) of $1.03 U.S., beating consensus estimates of $1 U.S.
The company said it is seeing strong demand for a new feature that uses artificial intelligence (A.I.) to help sellers write product descriptions, and that it is seeing growth for eBay Live.
However, eBay said that it now expects Q4 revenue of $2.47 billion U.S. to $2.53 billion U.S., with growth ranging from a 1% decline to a 2% increase.
The company forecasts profits of $1 U.S. to $1.05 U.S. a share in Q4.
Wall Street estimates had called for $2.6 billion U.S. in Q4 revenue and profits of $1.05 U.S. a share.
eBay continues to return cash to shareholders, buying back $651 million U.S. of stock in Q3. The company has committed to returning 125% of free cash flow to stockholders through 2024.
So far this year, eBay’s stock has declined 3% to trade at $40.77 U.S. per share.
