New results are in from May activity in the Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index. Online marketplaces were up as technology companies continued to struggle. As volatility persisted, eBay saw share prices rise while GameStop’s CEO pursued an acquisition.
Just behind eBay was its competitor Etsy, while B2B manufacturing services provider Xometry‘s share price more than doubled by the month’s end.
May takeaways from the Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index
- The Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index was up 1% at the end of May from where it finished in April, with Online Marketplaces outperforming other categories.
- EBay (+9%), Etsy (+7%) and Xometry (+105%) were among the index’s top May performers.
- Technology stocks continued to weigh down the index’s overall results, which underperformed the S&P 500 during the month.
This index is a collaboration between Digital Commerce 360 and the financial advisory, capital markets, asset management and private equity firm Baird. It intends to provide perspective into how public markets value companies and technology providers that power digital commerce. The index contains four categories capturing activity extending throughout the Americas and China:
- Online Marketplaces
- Online Retail
- Ecommerce Technology
- International Companies
Readers should note that this index complements insights from Digital Commerce 360’s Top 2000 Database. That database specifically tracks North American online retailers and their web sales.
The Baird/Digital Commerce 360 Ecommerce Stock Index, meanwhile, covers both B2C retail and B2B ecommerce companies, in addition to the technology vendors that serve them, with a broader focus on global activity. All commentary and reporting is provided for informational purposes only and is not intended to be financial advice.
Click here to read April’s ecommerce stock index results.
May ecommerce stock index results
“The Baird/Digital Commerce Ecommerce Stock Index increased 1% in May, after moving 7% higher during April, but once again underperformed the broader S&P index, which was up 6.2% for the month,” said Colin Sebastian, Baird’s managing director and senior research analyst covering internet/ecommerce.
As has been the case in other recent months, positive and negative shifts varied across categories in May.
“Importantly, there was meaningful disparity in performance among the sub-sectors of ecommerce and among specific companies,” Sebastian said. “Online Marketplaces were the standout Ecommerce group for the month, rising 15% from April, led by shares of B2B platform Xometry, which doubled month over month, and solid performances by eBay (+9% for the month) and Etsy (+7%).”
Meanwhile, technology stocks reflected the index’s steepest declines for the month.
“Conversely, the Ecommerce Technology group, in aggregate, declined 9% vs. April, with Wix down 28% and Klaviyo down 21%, as Wall Street remains concerned over potential disruption to legacy software companies from new AI-native development tools and services,” Sebastian explained.
Ongoing volatility
International Companies also dropped, falling 4% as a group. PDD Holdings led that decline, down 13% for the month. Swings in share price echoed a variety of ongoing shifts and adjustments, according to Sebastian.
“We believe that most of the Ecommerce Index volatility in May reflects reactions to recent Q1 earnings reports and management outlooks for Q2 and the balance of 2026,” Sebastian assessed. “In a number of cases, companies are guiding toward higher levels of tech and marketing spend, which may impact profit margins.”
Nevertheless, Baird’s projections still call for the index overall to finish the year up.
“Despite ongoing concerns over the ‘K-shaped’ economy and pressures related to macro uncertainty, Baird remains positive on the broader secular Ecommerce growth opportunity and continues to expect roughly 6% year-over-year industry growth in 2026,” Sebastian stated.
Ecommerce Stock Index leaders in May
Among the strongest performers from the index in May, eBay navigated an unsolicited, $56 billion acquisition attempt during the first half of the month. On May 12, eBay rejected GameStop’s offer, which eBay’s board of directors deemed to be “neither credible nor attractive.” In the meantime, GameStop CEO Ryan Cohen has reiterated his interest in the deal and has reportedly continued to accumulate eBay shares.
EBay ranks No. 6 in Digital Commerce 360’s Global Online Marketplaces Database. The database ranks the 100 largest such marketplaces by third-party gross merchandise value (GMV).
GameStop is No. 81 in the Top 2000 Database. That database ranks North America’s largest online retailers by their annual, global ecommerce sales.
As eBay’s share prices climbed, so did those of its competitor, Etsy, which entered May on the heels of a Q1 earnings report that saw gross merchandise sales (GMS) on Etsy’s core marketplace hit $2.46 billion, up 5.5% from a year earlier. Its leadership continued to outline new ways Etsy has been using AI for search, agentic commerce and other use cases.
Etsy ranks No. 20 in the Global Online Marketplaces Database.
Underpinning a 105% rise, the manufacturing services company Xometry posted a 40% year-over-year increase in revenue as a new Siemens partnership opened up access to new industrial users.
That deal will see Siemens invest $50 million in Xometry in anticipation of AI playing a growing role in industrial software.
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