eBay Inc. EBAY recently appointed new executives to fill three important positions in the company. These appointments are part of its preparations to be a standalone company following the divestment of its payments business - PayPal - later this year.
The company has appointed former Home Depot Inc. HD executive Harry "Hal" Lawton, who will head eBay North America. He served Home Depot as the Senior Vice President of Merchandising since 2013.
The other executives joining eBay are former Agilent Technologies Inc. A executive, Marie Oh Huber, and former NYSE executive, Scott Cutler. Post separation, Huber will lead eBay's global legal function, replacing Michael Jacobsen who plans to leave the company following the spin-off. Cutler who served as the Executive Vice President, Head of Global Listings, NYSE will now be the president of eBay's StubHub business.
The appointments came after the company's recent agreement forbidding both eBay and PayPal from competing against each other in their core operations, post separation. According to the agreement, both the entities will have to remain in their individual lines of business. While PayPal will not be able to build its own marketplace for physical goods, eBay cannot develop a payments system.
eBay is taking all the necessary measures to ensure a smooth spin off. Last month, the company appointed two independent directors - wearable-camera maker GoPro's GPRO president Tony Bates and the chief executive officer of the American Red Cross, Gail McGovern - to the board.
Moreover, in a bid to strengthen the marketplace business, the company has adopted a fixed price format and undertaken several initiatives to attract big sellers and customers, improve technology and navigation of its properties, invest in better fulfillment services and especially focus on mobile customers. Its drive to provide complete online solutions for traditional retailers should further boost growth.
eBay is one of the largest online retailers in the world and is poised to grow through strategic acquisitions. According to the company, following the separation, eBay will generate around $9 billion in annual revenue. The company's earnings of 81 cents beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 77 cents by 5.2%. Guided earnings for the March quarter were also better than expected despite the fact that revenue expectations fell short.
eBay currently has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report
EBAY INC (EBAY): Free Stock Analysis Report
AGILENT TECH (A): Free Stock Analysis Report
HOME DEPOT (HD): Free Stock Analysis Report
GOPRO INC-A (GPRO): Free Stock Analysis Report
To read this article on Zacks.com click here.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
