Etsy (ETSY) is an e-commerce site designed fo🐼r artisans to sell handmade items and craft supplies. So, if you're looking to find things like jewelry, clothing, and home decor aཧmong other things, it may be the place for you.

The retail marketplace made its stock market debut on April 16, 2015, with an 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:initial public offering (IPO) of $16 per share. After initially nearly doubling in price, it entered a period of steady decline. When the pandemic hit in March 2020, Etsy lifted off. It reached a high of $297 in late 2021 before reversing again. By the end of May 2022, it was back at about $81 a share.

Let's take a look at some of the key factors that play into the company's 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:stock price and how it performed since it debuteဣd on the market.

Etsy: A Company Overview

Etsy is a 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:peer-to-peer (P2P) e-commerce website that allows users to buy and sell handmade crafts, vintage items, art, jewelry, craft supplies, home decor, and photography among other things.𝄹 It's an online marketplace like꧃ Amazon and eBay, but Etsy's emphasis is on unique and handmade items rather than mass-produced merchandise.

The 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:e-commerce site launched in 2005 and grew steadily in its first few years, making its one-millionth sale in 2007. A year later, Etsy received $27 million in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:venture capital funding. The company announced its IPO in March 2015 and went public on April 16 of the same year. After an initial surge, the stock declined. By early June, it fell below the IPO price of $16 per share.

Etsy's Financials

For the 2023 fiscal year, Etsy reported gross merchandise sales of $13.16 billion. That's a drop of 1.2% from the $13.32 reported during the 2022 fiscal year.

Revenue came in at $2.74 billion while gross profit was $1.92 billion. Revenue for the period increased by 7.1% from $2.57 billion during the same period in 2022 while gross profit jumped by 4.5% from $1.91 billion. The company posted $307.57 million in 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:net income compared to a net loss of $694.29 million.

The total number of active ꦦbuyers and sellers also increased during the year:

• Active sellers increased by 21% from 7.47 million to 9.03 million
• Active buyers increased by 1.5% from 95.07 million to 96.48 million
  

The company said it expected revenue to exceed its gross merchandise sales over the 2024 fiscal year. Margins were projected to remain healthy as the company expected earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation🙈, and amortizationꦬ (EBITDA) in line with those from 2023.

Results were reported on Feb. 21, 2024. If you review the stock performance at the time, there was relatively little movement. The stock opened the day before at $75.27 and closed at $75.87. On the day the earnings were released, it opened lower at $74.50 but jumped to a high of $78.65 before ending the day at $77.13.

Etsy's Challenges

Like eBay, Etsy has a great advantage in its ability to keep its hands off the merchandise, letting its independent sellers handle most of the burdens of storing inventory, shipping, and 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:customer service. That leaves Etsy with the task of keeping its sellers happy while increasꦕing the revenues it 🐼earns from them.

That didn't go well in 2022. Thousands of sellers went on a week-long strike in April 2022 to protest an increase in transaction fees. The company announced that it hiked rates from 5% to 6.5%, sparking outrage among some sellers. According to Etsy, the hike was necessary to keep up with help with its 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:marketing efforts.

The news appeared to have some impact on the company's share price. After hovering around $130 the week before, shares dropped to $117.22 when the market closed on April 11, 2022. On the last 澳洲幸运5开奖号码历史查询:trading session of April, the stock closed at $93.19.

Competition from Amazon

Etsy faces stiff competition from Amazon (AMZN). The e-commerce giant introduced Amazon Handmade in 2015. This site allows users to create a free site to sell their wares. Amazon takes a 15% referral fee for every sale made and approved sellers can save up to $480 each year by having the monthly selling fee waived.

Amazon doesn't publicize Handmade sales. But, it doesn't appear to be a huge threat to Etsy. In 2020, Amazon announced that its Handmade sales in the U.S. surpassed $1 million in annual sales that year.

How a Day 3 Investment Would Have Fared

One way to determine if you should have invested in a company early is to put yourself in the shoes of an investor who got in shortly after an IPO. On April 20, 2015, the stock opened at $28.77 and closed at $24.90 on Etsy's third day of trading.

Let's say you invested in 100 shares of Etsy toward the end of day three when shares were trading at $24.90. Those shares would have cost you $2,490 at the time. Over the nex🌟t nine months, you😼 would have watched as the value of those shares steadily declined.

On Feb. 9, 2016, Etsy shares closed at a record low of just $6.36﷽. At that time, your investment would have dropped 74.46% in value from $2,490 to $636. If you held onto that stock, however, you would have watched it slowly creep up in value over the next two years. The stock would exceed its March 2015 IPO price of $16 on Aug. 11, 2017, when the company closed at $16.22, and would double that less than a year later with a share price of $32.34 on May 31, 2018.

You really would have cashed in if you held onto Etsy stock through the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic. On Nov. 24, 2021, the stock hit its high of $296.91 before settling at $58.76 on Dec. 10, 2024. That's still a respectable profit of about 2.04 times its $28.77 day three price.

The Bottom Line

The COVID-19 pandemic was very good for Etsy. Although its stock price fell to Earth from its 2021 highs, the company's stock is still at a respectable level above its IPO price. Overall, analysts rated Etsy's stock as a hold, saying it will perform in line with the market. Remember, if you're planning on investing in Etsy, make sure it aligns with your investment goals. Be sure to do your due diligence and research. And if you're still on the fence, speak with a financial professional.