eBay Inc

PayPal's branded checkout segment grew just 2% in the second quarter, dragging down overall transaction margin dollars to a 1% increase even as total payment volume rose 10% year over year to $486 billion. CEO Enrique Lores said on the Q2 2026 earnings call that the company is raising its expectation for online branded checkout to the low-single-digit range for the year. The branded checkout business, which includes PayPal-branded checkout, Pay with Venmo, and eBay, accounted for 28% of PayPal's entire TPV and is its most profitable segment. Competition from Apple Pay, which has an estimated 900 million global users, is pressuring growth. PayPal's stock is down 81% from its 2021 peak as of August 12.

Berkshire Hathaway posted second-quarter operating earnings per Class B share of $6.03, easily beating the $5.13 consensus forecast, and accelerated capital deployment with a $4.5 billion share buyback—its largest since 2021—and nearly $22 billion in equity purchases, including a new $10 billion stake in Google parent Alphabet. The conglomerate's cash pile slipped to $365.5 billion from $397.4 billion at the end of the first quarter, marking a shift from the prior nine months when it was a net seller of equities. In other corporate news, Barrick Mining reached an agreement with Newmont over their Nevada Gold Mines joint venture, resolving all outstanding conflicts and clearing the path for Barrick to list its North American assets in New York, with Newmont making a one-time payment of $1.95 billion to Barrick; however, Barrick shares fell 5.8% pre-market after missing second-quarter adjusted earnings expectations. Archer Aviation announced it will acquire Boeing's Wisk Aero, SkyGrid, and Insitu subsidiaries for an undisclosed sum, sending its shares up 12.5% in premarket trading. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen is reportedly considering withdrawing his $56 billion buyout offer for eBay to propose a partnership or joint venture instead, according to Bloomberg.

eBay President and CEO Jamie Iannone sold 22,220 shares of common stock at a weighted average price of $109.03 per share on August 5 and 6, 2026, for a total transaction value of $2.4 million. The sale was executed under a Rule 10b5-1 trading plan adopted on November 20, 2025, and does not reflect a change in his outlook on the company. Following the transaction, Iannone retains 460,158 total shares, consisting of 242,101 directly held shares and 218,057 indirectly held through grantor retained annuity trusts, with a combined market value of $50.68 million based on the August 6 closing price of $110.14. eBay shares have returned 19% over the past year, and the company recently reported second-quarter revenue of $3.1 billion, up 15% year-over-year, with diluted earnings per share rising to $1.60 from $1.36.

GameStop shares fell 6% while AMC Entertainment rose 6% on Monday, marking a sharp divergence in the meme-stock cohort. GameStop declined after agreeing to exchange approximately $1.4 billion of its convertible senior notes for new Class A common stock, a dilutive move that increases the share count without generating cash proceeds. AMC rallied on the back of a record weekend, driven by the opening of Spider-Man: Brand New Day, which grossed about $355 million domestically and $927 million globally, the second-highest opening weekend ever. BlackBerry shares slipped 1% with no company-specific catalyst, underscoring the split from the group's past tendency to move together on sentiment. GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has forgone his pay package to focus on a rejected takeover bid for eBay, in which GameStop holds a 9.8% stake.

eBay stock has returned 156.1% over the past three years, but its valuation picture is split. A Discounted Cash Flow model using last twelve month free cash flow of about $1.7 billion and a two-stage framework estimates intrinsic value at about $152.88 per share, implying the stock is around 28.4% undervalued. In contrast, the price-to-earnings ratio stands at about 24.2 times, above a tailored fair P/E of roughly 19.5 times, suggesting overvaluation on that metric. The mixed picture is further complicated by GameStop's increased stake and ongoing takeover push, which introduce deal uncertainty.

eBay returned about $20 billion to shareholders over the past five years through $17 billion in share repurchases and $2.6 billion in dividends, a sum equal to roughly 41% of its current market value. Despite those payouts, the stock’s five-year total return of 75% lagged the S&P 500’s 81% gain, raising questions about whether the cash returns compensated for underperformance. The company generated $11.6 billion in revenue over the last twelve months with a 19.6% operating margin, and management has focused on faster-growing segments like collectibles, fashion, and consumer-to-consumer sales, which now account for about 70% of total gross merchandise volume. In its most recent quarter, gross merchandise volume rose 14% to over $22 billion, but second-quarter guidance points to FX-neutral GMV growth of 8% to 10%, a slowdown that could test the sustainability of future capital returns.

Wedbush Securities analyst Michael Piccolo expressed skepticism that GameStop's bid for eBay will succeed on current terms. Piccolo noted that eBay trades well below the implied $125 per share offer price, signaling the market assigns low odds to a deal closing, and identified the financing gap as the core obstacle, with GameStop's roughly $9 billion in cash plus a conditional $20 billion TD facility against a target nearly $50 billion in size. He suggested CEO Ryan Cohen's next move is more likely an exchange offer or direct appeal to eBay holders rather than a materially higher price. Piccolo advised GameStop shareholders to stay on the sidelines pending concrete financing details, while viewing eBay as reasonably valued on standalone fundamentals with modest optionality if Cohen sweetens terms, though warning of downside risk if Cohen abandons the pursuit.

GameStop shareholders approved an amendment to expand the company's authorized Class A common stock to 2.5 billion shares, giving the retailer more flexibility to use stock as currency in its stalled bid for eBay. The vote came six days after Sony confirmed it will stop manufacturing physical PlayStation game discs in January 2028, accelerating the decline of GameStop's core business. GameStop's non-binding proposal to acquire eBay at $125 per share was rejected by eBay's board in May, with concerns over financing. The company directly owns 4.3 million eBay shares and holds options tied to another 39 million, according to Reuters. GameStop shares closed down 2.46% at roughly $22.20 on Tuesday and slipped further in early Wednesday trading.

GameStop stock appears undervalued on an earnings basis, trading at about 13.4 times earnings compared with the Specialty Retail industry average of roughly 19.6 times and a peer group average of about 26.2 times. However, broader valuation checks score 4 out of 6, pointing to a mixed picture rather than a clear bargain. The market is weighing risks from the shift to digital gaming, including Sony's plan to end physical PlayStation discs, against potential benefits from GameStop's diversification into collectibles and a proposed eBay merger. The key question is whether the current discount compensates for the erosion of its traditional business or represents a mispricing if repositioning efforts gain traction.

GameStop shares rose 1.4% in premarket trading to $22.07 after the video game retailer reaffirmed its intention to pursue the proposed acquisition of eBay, despite the online marketplace rejecting its unsolicited takeover approach. In a regulatory filing, GameStop confirmed it remains committed to its approximately US$56 billion cash-and-stock proposal and intends to continue pursuing the transaction as part of its long-term strategic plans. The company projected adjusted EBITDA of more than US$600 million for fiscal 2026, compared with approximately US$345 million for fiscal 2025, and has increased its ownership stake in eBay to 7.8%. Chief Executive Ryan Cohen has reportedly waived a potential performance-based compensation package to focus on advancing the deal, while recent financial results showed record quarterly net income of US$389.6 million and a 14% year-over-year increase in net sales driven by the collectibles business.

GameStop shares rose Monday after the video game retailer projected adjusted EBITDA of more than $600 million for fiscal 2027, up sharply from $345.4 million in fiscal 2025. The company also said its leadership remains focused on advancing its proposed acquisition of eBay, reinforcing its strategic expansion plans. Earlier in May, GameStop submitted a non-binding proposal to acquire eBay at $125 per share in cash and stock, and has increased its stake to 7.8% of eBay’s outstanding shares through derivative-linked structures. Among other notable movers, Comcast surged 23% after announcing a tax-free spin-off of NBCUniversal into a separate publicly traded company, while British American Tobacco slipped 2% on plans to cut 5,500 jobs as part of an AI-driven restructuring expected to deliver an additional £600 million in annualized cost savings by 2028.

eBay shareholders voted at the annual general meeting to reject a proposal that would have lowered the ownership threshold required to call a special meeting. The decision keeps existing rules for convening special shareholder meetings in place. The vote comes as investors continue to focus on governance structures and board accountability. The rejected proposal means current thresholds remain unchanged, which could shape how future governance campaigns or activist efforts approach engagement with the company.