Gone are the days of monster growth for Etsy (NASDAQ: ETSY). The online marketplace for handcrafted, unique, and vintage goods did report a year-over-year revenue gain of 4.3% in Q4 2023, but gross merchandise sales (GMS) dropped 0.7%. Weaker spending activity on the platform is discouraging, particularly when you consider GMS also fell 4% in Q4 2022.

This e-commerce company's ongoing struggles reveal what I think might be the core of its bear case. Here's what investors need to know.

There's no denying Etsy's business was a major beneficiary of the coronavirus pandemic. People had extra cash from stimulus payments and less options to spend it on with social-distancing restrictions in place. These were favorable ingredients that led to strong user, revenue, and GMS gains for the company during the early months of the health crisis.

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Source Fool.com