eBay, the California-based online auction platform, is heading into earnings - and it is showing mixed data signals at a time when investors would prefer the hits keep coming. 

Analysts tracked by Zacks Investment Research are looking for EPS $0.51 when the company reveals results Wednesday, October 23. eBay shares are up nearly 35% year-to-date. 

After the stock took a big dive toward the end of 2018, so did job postings. But in 2019, eBay ($EBAY) job postings rose 10%. The downside of this comes in the second half of the year: over that timeframe, postings have fallen nearly 40%. The upside remains - eBay postings are up year-over-year. 

Analysts are in a holding pattern when it comes to eBay as an investment - the company is plodding through a strategic review, that could result in some of its top assets - including Stubhub - being spun out.

After seeing the success eBay had when it spun PayPal into public markets in 2015, investors are likely a little more optimistic that the online auctioneer can act as a proving ground for other features, as they develop into standalone products. 

On the bright side - the company's app engagement continues to reflect growth. eBay subsidiary Stubhub recently crossed the 1-million Apple ($AAPL) Store Rating total and its primary product saw growth since Q3 began, of nearly 7%.

And as long as eBay and the companies it can one day spin out keep gaining digital consumer trajectory, the online marketplace remains a challenging competitor to so many other e-commerce startups that have recently made (or sought) public market debuts.  

About the Data: 

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

Further Reading: 

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