You can profit from shift to e-commerce

Article Excerpt

On July 1, 2015, due to pressure from billionaire activist investor Carl Icahn, online auction firm eBay split off its electronic-payment business, PayPal, as a separate firm. Investors received one PayPal share for each eBay share they held. Both stocks jumped during the pandemic as consumers embraced online shopping, but have moved down as stores re-opened. Even so, both are still up about 75% since the spinoff. We feel both stocks can move higher over the next few years, particularly as younger shoppers increasingly prefer to buy goods online and pay bills electronically. EBAY INC. $44 is a buy. The company (Nasdaq symbol EBAY; Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 532.2 million; Market cap: $23.4 billion; Dividend yield: 2.3%; Takeover Target Rating: Medium; www.ebay.com) operates e-commerce websites, in 190 countries, where sellers pay fees to auction items or offer them at fixed prices. In the past few years, eBay has made its websites easier for customers to use and search for goods. It also recently acquired Certilogo for an undisclosed…