A strong Black Friday should provide a boost for online marketplaces such as Etsy

By Liz Moyer

Investing.com -- Shoppers are headed into the holiday season on a strong note, and that's bound to benefit stocks of online marketplaces such as Etsy Inc (NASDAQ:ETSY).

The stock is already up 80% from its 52-week low in June, now trading around $120 a share. MoffettNathanson recently called it a market perform, putting a $116 price target on it. In October, Goldman Sachs rated it a buy with a $130 price target, implying another 8.3% upside from here.

Etsy has forecast fourth-quarter revenue of $700 million to $780M, and gross merchandise sales of $3.6 billion to $4B. Analysts had expected fourth-quarter revenue of $743M and gross merchandise sales of $3.9B.

The company, which runs a platform where people can sell unique crafts and other merchandise, boomed during the pandemic, when people were stuck at home and resorted to shopping online for masks and other personal protective gear, as well as items to pass the time. But it has held its own since things started to reopen and consumers returned to brick-and-mortar stores to shop. That said, the shares are still down 45% this year.

The company has topped earnings and revenue expectations for ten consecutive quarters, according to Briefing.com. Consumers who flocked to its platform for COVID-related gear stayed to shop for handmade crafts. The number of active buyers on its platform has doubled to $88.3M since 2019, while repeat buyers now account for 49% of the total, Briefing.com reported.

Holiday shopping trends show promise for the upcoming quarter. For the retail industry, online sales hit a record on Black Friday, and Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) forecasts today's Cyber Monday online sales to top $11B.

Shopify (NYSE:SHOP), a platform that helps shopkeepers build their own internet presence, said its merchants reported record sales of $3.36B on Black Friday, a 17% increase over last year. Shares of Shopify are up 3.4%.