eBay diversifies with toymaker

Article Excerpt

EBAY INC. $43 is still a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 626.0 million; Market cap: $26.9 billion; Price to-sales ratio: 2.6; Dividend yield: 2.0%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.ebay.com) operates e-commerce websites, in over 190 countries, where sellers pay fees to auction items or offer them at fixed prices. The company is part of an investment consortium that has agreed to buy 25% of Funko Inc. (Nasdaq symbol FNKO), a leading maker of licensed pop culture toys, including the action figures and bobbleheads of sports celebrities and TV and movie stars. The group is paying $263 million for that stake; eBay has not yet revealed the size of its investment. However, the deal will make eBay the preferred secondary marketplace for Funko products, which should bring more users to its platforms. eBay is a buy. buy…