Losing PayPal May Have Actually Helped eBay

It has been a year since Paypal Holdings Inc PYPL broke off from parent company eBay Inc EBAY with its own IPO after surpassing the e-commerce pioneer in value. Once seen as synonymous with e-commerce, eBay has been seen as a casualty of Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN's dominance, but eBay's stock has been on a roll lately now that it has a clearer focus without PayPal.

In the past three months, eBay stock has risen over 30 percent, with its StubHub ticket selling marketplace performing exceptionally well for the company. EBay still has the name recognition and e-commerce prowess to remain relevant for years to come. The company has over $8 billion in cash on its balance sheet, nearly enough to pay off its $9 billion in debt.

Related Link: Investors Seeking To Buy Stockpile Gift Cards Can Now Do It On eBay

Last month, eBay hit an all-time high after beating Q2 earnings estimates, and it saw a 6 percent year-over-year increase in revenue. The company also set another record, hitting 1 billion live listings on the site for the first time. EBay is buying back shares at a blistering rate with its $2.5 billion buyback plan in place.

StubHub is a go-to ticket selling marketplace and is performing exceptionally well, up over 40 percent in revenue year-over-year in Q2. Another bright spot is eBay's classifieds business, with a 15 percent increase in Q2. EBay famously had a stake in classifieds heavyweight Craigslist, but has now built its own classified platform with app Close5. Close5 represents the future of the classified business, allowing users to quickly post local advertisements with pictures free of charge.

EBay has made several new acquisitions — Expertmaker, SalesPredict, TicketBis, Ticket Utils — that may provide additional value and diversify the business from its Marketplace business, its biggest segment.

While eBay has been surpassed by Amazon as the go-to e-commerce platform, its renewed focus and clearer strategy are paving the way for a strong comeback.