Uncertainty around President Donald Trump’s tariffs is leading Bernstein to step to the sidelines on e-commerce giant eBay . Pointing to a now “unpredictable” operating environment for e-commerce, the firm downgraded the online marketplace to market perform from outperform and cut its price target by $5 to $65. That implies about 1% downside from Monday’s closing price. “China-sourced inventory has been a core area of growth (e.g., Motor P & A), and the channel could see disruption until tariff policies get finalized. Offsets would be alternative sellers and secondhand [gross merchandise volume] that may accelerate, but EBAY’s category mix broadly skews discretionary,” analyst Nikhil Devnani wrote to clients on Tuesday. “Too many moving parts, which makes us less comfortable with an active call.” While eBay shares have fallen more than 2% since Trump announced his steep “reciprocal tariff” rates earlier this month before ultimately announcing a 90-day pause , they’ve still outperformed the broader market this year. Even with the president’s simultaneous ramping up of tariffs on China, the stock has still risen about 6% in 2025, while the S & P 500 has plummeted more than 12%. EBAY .SPX YTD mountain EBAY vs. S & P 500, year-to-date Devnani believes eBay is “better positioned” than its peers on tariffs, with such positioning being a factor that prevents the analyst from taking a harsher view of the name. However, there are “more risks to growth” at present, he said. “Our concern is that the absolute upside case/our original thesis could face challenges and the market is already appreciating/expecting EBAY’s relative defensiveness,” he also wrote. “We are concerned about GMV risks surfacing during the upcoming earnings cycle.” Moreover, the analyst said he has no particular angle on the likelihood of a recession, but he added that “a downturn could undermine self-help progress” for the company. In the long term, he’s still optimistic on eBay, saying that he likes its focus category strategy and that it’s on a “much better path” than today. Devnani’s neutral stance puts him in the majority of analysts on Wall Street who hold a similar view. Out of the 33 analysts covering eBay, 19 in total have a hold rating, while 11 have a strong buy or buy rating, per LSEG data. The stock was 0.3% lower in premarket trading Tuesday on the heels of the analyst’s downgrade.
