EBay Shares Rise on 'Strong Buy'

Shares of eBay Inc. jumped more than four percent into positive trading territory Monday after Raymond James's Aaron Kessler raised his rating to strong buy from market perform for the online retailer and auction company.

EBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) was trading up $1.23, or 4.19 percent, to $30.83 before noon Eastern Time on Monday, in large part because of the report from Kessler. He said he expects this quarter to deliver solid results for eBay in ints marketplace division and PayPal, another division of eBay.

The company's stock is trading at 22.52 times trailing earnings.

Another report recently said eBay's November sales were up 18 percent in a same-store type of comparison from the previous year. Also, Kessler thinks those results match with Chase's Cyber Holiday Pulse Index, showing 25 percent year-over-year growth in commerce sales from November 1 to December 1, and the fact that ComScore has estimated a 15 percent increase in holiday sales this year -- both of which should bode well for eBay.

Kessler said recent actions from eBay should drive improved results. Among those he cites:

1) shift to fixed price sales;

2) surfacing of top-rated sellers;

3) improved site search;

4) adoption of free shipping.