Etsy stock pops on Depop deal despite disappointing revenue, merchandise sales

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Etsy shares popped on Thursday after the company said it plans to offload its fashion resale app Depop to eBay for about $1.2 billion in cash.

The online marketplace also reported mixed earnings results for the fourth quarter.

Here's how Etsy did, compared with estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

Gross merchandise sales, or the dollar value of items sold, slid 3.8% year over year to $3.59 billion and missed analyst estimates of $3.6 billion, according to FactSet. The company attributed the annual decline to its sale of musical instrument marketplace Reverb, which was completed last June.

The downbeat results were overshadowed by the Depop deal announced on Wednesday. Etsy CEO Kruti Patel Goyal said in a statement that the sale would allow the company to "focus exclusively" on its core marketplace.

EBay said Depop, a resale app popular among younger consumers, complements its business and would strengthen its presence in fashion, which has become one of its fastest-growing categories.

Shares of eBay also climbed on Thursday.

In the fourth quarter, Etsy's net income dropped 14.8% year over year to $110.7 million, or 92 cents per share, compared with $129.9 million, or $1.03 per share, one year ago.

The company, known for its marketplace of handcrafted and artisan wares, has recently stepped up its marketing investments as it looks to reach more U.S. consumers.

Etsy has been contending with stiffer competition in online retail, along with a challenging macroeconomic backdrop. The company said in its annual filing released Thursday that it's been pressured by an ongoing pullback in consumer discretionary spending and "evolving buyer behavior."

Active sellers grew 7.7% year over year to 8.76 million, surpassing analysts estimated 8.5 million. Active buyers declined 2% year over year to 93.54 million, compared with Wall Street's estimated 93.1 million.

For the first quarter, Etsy guided for gross merchandise sales to come in between $2.38 billion and $2.43 billion, compared with GMS of $2.8 billion one year earlier. Analysts anticipated $2.68 billion in GMS.