The big news today from eBay's
analyst day was that Meg
Whitman was promising: now, with even more revenue growth! Her presentation, and that of the other
executives from eBay proper, PayPal and Skype, were really great. Evidently, either (a) you investors weren't watching
or (b) without the analysts to tell you if it was good, you weren't ready to pull the trigger. After all, if a company
talks to the analysts through market close, how can they affect the market? The stock was down a teeny bit, six
cents, to $34.11, on a bit better-than-average volume.Well. If you were online with me, you were armed with more info (you know, to toot my own horn, and all). I filled you in about eBay's view of their craigslist investment; how they planned to create synergies with Skype; how proud was the company of their 7% of worldwide long distance minutes; how PayPal will soon let you buy used books at your neighbor's yard sale with your mobile phone; and how $3 billion in cash was withdrawn from ATMs via PayPal debit cards. If I had to pick one thing I came away from those hours of watching Meg & team present (I mean, something substantial... I could go on forever about fashion choices but this isn't the style blog) it was that they really believe in their vision and they are fantastic at describing it. I was feeling a little scared off by the stock's rich price, but after listening to Meg, Bob, and the Skype and PayPal execs tell me about how they're going to change the world? Boy do I want to be along for the ride.
I think the bottom line is this: it's all about the brands. And each of their brands is huge in its own market. As
Meg said in her closing remarks, "the clarity of these brands -- they STAND for voice on the net, e-commerce on
the net, payments on the net -- we have three really strong positions to build upon." And when Meg talks with that
passion, even her awful scarf arrangement can't keep me from swallowing her vision, hook, line and sinker.
If you investors hang with me, you'll be swallowing too, and hoping that I'm wrong when I say that her days at eBay might be
numbered.
[Disclaimer: I own a few shares of eBay, and next time I have cash to invest, I think I'm buying some more.]
Closing Bell: Economic Catapult for Thanksgiving & Black Friday (WMT, TGT, GRMN, GOOG, MSFT)
Deere up on Q4 earnings performance
Reid Hoffman: LinkedIn will go public (at some point)
