CluenexeBay Inc EBAY
eBay Inc scores good on business quality (7.0 of 10). Here is why, in plain words, and what our sealed record shows.
Why it matters
- What eBay Inc does
eBay operates a global online marketplace connecting buyers and sellers, generating revenue primarily through transaction fees and advertising.
- What it does best
eBay dominates niche secondary goods resale through a global network effect, posting a gross margin of 72.5% that outpaces Amazon's 50.8%. This inventory-free model creates heavy switching costs for dedicated collectors who cannot easily replicate their established seller reputations elsewhere.
- The main risk
Net debt climbed to $3.8 billion while total debt reached $6.7 billion, exposing the balance sheet to rising refinancing costs if free cash flow generation falters.
Quality, check by check
Scored against its own industry, from company filings.
Operating margins sit at 26.0% and free cash flow margin hits the top quartile of its sector at the 96th percentile, driven by a lean platform model that converts scale directly into cash.
The two-sided marketplace locks in buyers and sellers through deep reputation data, securing a gross margin in the top decile of its sector at 95th percentile. Rivals cannot easily clone years of accumulated trust.
Revenue grew 7.9% to reach $12B, marking an acceleration compared to the flat history seen in annual summaries where revenue hovered near $10B for years.
Debt-to-equity sits at 1.5 with interest coverage at 12.5x, leaving debt costs manageable. Free cash flow reached $2.8B, supporting $2B in buybacks. The balance sheet is getting softer as net debt expands.
Insiders
Executives and directors, from SEC Form 4 filings we read ourselves. Open market trades only; grants, option exercises and pre-planned sales left out.
1 sold $559K outside pre-planned sales.
Our sealed record on EBAY
Verdicts appear here 30 days after we publish them; members see today's. Each one is in the nightly ledger, fingerprinted the night it was made.
The first sealed verdicts appear here on Oct 11, 2026.
Questions
eBay Inc scores good on the Cluenex quality check (7.0 of 10), measured against its own industry. Profitability is strong, moat strong, growth steady and financial health fair.
In the last 90 days of SEC Form 4 filings: 1 sold $559K outside pre-planned sales.
Oct 27, 2026.
See EBAY today
- Today's verdict on EBAY, and why
- Fair value with cautious, base and optimistic cases
- The exact price that would change the verdict
- Which stocks each signal names, the night it fires
Cite this page: Cluenex, “eBay Inc (EBAY)”, https://cluenex.com/stocks/ebay/, data as of Oct 10, 2026.