Shares of eBay were the best performers in the S&P 500 on Monday as Morgan Stanley made the stock a top pick, arguing that the global e-commerce company is becoming the New York Stock Exchange for used goods.
eBay stock rose 5% to $117.80 on Monday and was the best-performing component in the S&P 500 for the trading session. Other top performers included Meta Platforms, Biogen, and Medtronic.
Morgan Stanley analyst Nathan Feather has an Overweight rating on the stock, and on Monday raised his price target on eBay to $132 from $127 and made the stock the firm's "top pick." The new price target represented about 18% upside from Friday's closing price of $112.19.
Feather said in the research note that eBay's gross merchandise volume, or GMV, growth has "surprised even the most bullish investors."
"The market has struggled to identify why," Feather added.
The analyst believes the key is "live commerce," which lets consumers shop through interactive livestreams.
"The $27 billion live selling market appears to be the missing piece," Feather said, adding that eBay Live is already driving an estimated 40% of the company's growth.
"A new type of commerce is emerging," Feather said.
The firm raised its annual gross merchandise volume growth estimate between 2026 and 2030 to around 6.5% from about 5.8%.
"Think of eBay like the NYSE for used items: Historically, the market was dominated by long-only users: individuals who wanted to buy and hold items. Live Commerce effectively adds hedge fund-like users: short-duration resellers who try to identify underpriced items in fast-paced auctions to relist them on eBay for a profit. That increases trading velocity, driving higher GMV growth for eBay as the exchange," the analyst explained.
Although long successful in China, live commerce has not taken off in Western markets, according to Feather. But that could be changing soon.
"We believe the live market is in early innings," the analyst said.
eBay stock was on track to rise for a fourth consecutive trading session Monday.
Shares have advanced steadily since Oct. 6 after trading tightly around their 50-day moving average at around $107. The stock was also closing in on its record closing high of $118.96 set on May 20.
The stock has risen 34% this year and has advanced 31% over the past 12 months. The S&P 500, by comparison, has risen 14% this year.
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