eBay Inc. (EBAY - Free Report) is scheduled to report third-quarter 2017 earnings on Oct 18 after the bell.

We expect eBay to perform well driven by strength in its marketplaces active users and net transaction revenues.

Shares of eBay have gained 28.3% year to date, significantly underperforming the industry’s 52.7% rally.

Marketplaces Active Buyers to Drive Growth

In the second quarter, eBay added 2 million marketplaces active buyers taking the total to 171 million. We expect significant additions in the to-be-reported quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for this metric is currently pegged at 172 million.

The company recently accelerated its partnership deals to boost its Marketplace. eBay partnered with Spring to offer a wide range of apparel and accessories through ebay.com. The company is anticipated to benefitfrom added selection of luxury brands.

Moreover, the company is offering daily deals on Facebook’s (FB - Free Report) Mobile Marketplace and getting access to the latter’s huge user base in return.

With Shopify, eBay has launched a new sales channel, an integrated platform that allows Shopify sellers to synchronize inventory information, sell products ordered on eBay and view eBay buyer messages directly from Shopify accounts. This is helping eBay to gain access to sellers on Shopify sellers.

Core Platform Strength to Drive Net Transaction Revenue

In the second quarter, eBay’s total net transaction revenue was $1.82 billion. The figure is expected to increase in the to-be-reported quarter as eBay has been strengthening its core platform and improving user experience.

eBay Inc. Revenue (TTM)

eBay Inc. Revenue (TTM) | eBay Inc. Quote

The company accelerated its efforts by building product catalogs on structured data, enhancing mobile platform, rolling out new browse inspired shopping journeys, rejuvenating customer-to-customer (C2C) business and strengthening its brand.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for net transaction revenue is currently pegged at $1.87 billion.

Overhangs Remain

Concerns remain in the form of increasing competition in the e-commerce and hardline retail market from companies like Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN - Free Report) and Wal-Mart (WMT - Free Report) and deceleration of growth in the e-commerce market both domestically and internationally.

eBay’s increased investment toward overall platform technology and slower growth rate compared to its peers are also overhangs. Furthermore, eBay’s growth continues to suffer due to a weak world economy. The company is heavily dependent on countries outside the United States for its transaction and Internet sales. Although the United States is flourishing, emerging economies are slowing down.

Currently, eBay carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.