eBay Earnings Preview: What to Watch

eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) reports earnings for the third quarter on Wednesday, Oct. 18, after market close. The two key metrics investors should focus on are gross merchandise volume (GMV) and revenue, as these will tell us how well eBay's efforts to revitalize its marketplace are working.

For the last few years, eBay's marketplace GMV (the value of items sold) and revenue have been growing at mid-single-digit rates, while Amazon.com consistently posts more than 20% net sales growth. Even Wal-Mart Stores has invested heavily in its online sales channels and has been seeing strong growth in net sales and GMV of more than 60% in the first half of 2017.

Since Amazon and Wal-Mart offer items from third-party merchants, they are increasingly taking share of online spending that could otherwise go to eBay.

Source: Fool.com