Tuesday, February 26, 2008

GURUS DUMP EBAY



Reserve Not Met, Gurus Dump eBay
Joshua Lipton, data from Marketocracy 02.25.08, 6:05 PM ET

One name the gurus no longer want in their portfolios: eBay (nasdaq: EBAY - news - people ). Analysts who favor the stock point out that eBay is the No. 1 global e-commerce brand, with a presence in nearly 40 markets. And the company likes to give back to its shareholders: eBay has repurchased $3.2 billion worth of stock since July 2006 and may repurchase another $2.8 billion under current authorizations.

But analysts also point out concerns, noting, for instance, that growth has slowed down in the company's two largest markets: the U.S. and Germany. EBay also has to deal with competition from rivals like Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ), Yahoo! (nasdaq: YHOO - news - people ) and Amazon (nasdaq: AMZN - news - people ), and the recently announced decision of well-respected CEO Meg Whitman to step down.

EBay's shares have slipped about 18% in the past 12 months, well off the October high of $39. The M100 decided it was time to bail.

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