News

E-commerce stocks’ first-quarter 2024 performances are expected to have significantly benefited from growing online sales worldwide.

According to a report by the Commerce Department, retail sales were $709.6 billion in March 2024, growing 0.7% month over month, primarily driven by the solid momentum in e-commerce. Per the report, online retail sales grew 2.7% sequentially in March.

E-commerce stocks have been gaining from the increasing popularity and convenience of online shopping. Further, solid momentum across online grocery shopping is expected to have continued fueling online retail sales in the quarter under review.

Ultra-fast and door-to-door delivery of orders, including groceries, healthcare goods, merchandise, beauty products, electronics, toys and essential items, is constantly driving customer momentum of e-commerce companies.

Great offers and huge discounts across various product categories available on multiple e-commerce sites are anticipated to have continued to attract customers to online shopping.

Additionally, the impacts of the growing proliferation of Internet use and online payment apps globally are expected to get reflected in the e-commerce companies’ results for the quarter under review.

Apart from online retail companies, the Zacks Internet-Commerce industry houses online travel booking companies. These stocks are expected to have continued gaining from the boom in the travel industry. Growing online travel bookings and increased consumer demand for travel industry-related services are likely to have been other positives.

How to Make the Right Choice?

With the presence of several industry participants, finding the right e-commerce stocks with the potential to beat on earnings can be daunting. Our proprietary methodology, however, makes this task relatively simple.

You could narrow down your choices by looking at the stocks that have the perfect combination of the two key elements — a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) and a positive Earnings ESP. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they are reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Earnings ESP is our proprietary methodology for determining the stocks with the maximum chance of beating estimates at their next earnings announcements. It is the percentage difference between the Most Accurate Estimate and the Zacks Consensus Estimate.

Our research shows that for stocks with this apt mix of ingredients, the odds of a positive earnings surprise are as high as 70%.

Our Bets

Five e-commerce stocks mentioned below have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this reporting cycle:

Seattle, WA-based Amazon AMZN presently has an Earnings ESP of +11.66% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 results on Apr 30. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has moved up 1.2% to 82 cents per share in the past 30 days.

Amazon.com, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

eBay EBAY, based in San Jose, CA, currently has an Earnings ESP of +0.18% and a Zacks Rank #2.

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 1. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has been unchanged at $1.20 per share in the past 30 days.

eBay Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Norwalk, CT-based Booking Holdings BKNG has an Earnings ESP of +1.75% and a Zacks Rank #3 at present.

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has moved up 0.1% to $14.02 per share in the past 30 days.

Booking Holdings Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Boston, MA-based Wayfair W currently has an Earnings ESP of +60.20% and a Zacks Rank #3.

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 2. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its loss per share is pegged at 45 cents, which has narrowed down from a loss of 46 cents per share in the past 30 days.

Wayfair Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

BigCommerce BIGC, headquartered in Austin, TX, presently has an Earnings ESP of +14.29% and a Zacks Rank #3.

The company is scheduled to report first-quarter 2024 results on May 9. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for its earnings has been unchanged at 4 cents per share in the past 30 days.

BigCommerce Holdings, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Stay on top of upcoming earnings announcements with the Zacks Earnings Calendar.

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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.