Hussman Increases Stake in Etsy Amid Market Caution
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Feb 02 2026
0mins
Should l Buy ETSY?
Source: Fool
Etsy Inc. shares fell 6.46% and hit a 20-day low, reflecting ongoing market concerns.
Hussman Strategic Advisors increased its stake in Etsy to 1.13% of its assets under management by purchasing 42,000 shares valued at $2.56 million. This move indicates confidence in Etsy's growth potential, despite the company's core business showing sluggish growth and its shares underperforming the S&P 500 by 18 percentage points over the past year. The secondhand fashion app, Depop, has shown promising growth, achieving 39% GMS growth in Q3, which may support future shareholder returns.
While the increase in stake suggests some investor confidence, the overall market sentiment remains cautious regarding Etsy's financial health, particularly given the declining gross merchandise sales and rising expenses.
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Analyst Views on ETSY
Wall Street analysts forecast ETSY stock price to rise
26 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
18 Hold
2 Sell
Hold
Current: 55.780
Low
52.00
Averages
67.71
High
80.00
Current: 55.780
Low
52.00
Averages
67.71
High
80.00
About ETSY
Etsy, Inc. operates two-sided online marketplaces that connect buyers and sellers around the world. The Company's primary marketplace, Etsy.com, is the global destination for goods made by independent sellers. In addition to its core Etsy marketplace, its House of Brand consists of Depop Limited (Depop), which is its fashion resale marketplace. Each marketplace primarily operates independently, while benefiting from shared expertise in product development, marketing, technology, and customer support. The Company's top six retail categories on the Etsy marketplace include homewares and home furnishings, jewelry and personal accessories, apparel, craft supplies, paper and party supplies, and toys and games.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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- Legal Proceedings Update: A federal judge has temporarily blocked startup Perplexity from accessing Amazon's site via its Comet AI browser, reflecting Amazon's firm stance on platform protection, which could impact Perplexity's market strategy.
- Evidence Support: Judge Maxine Chesney noted that Amazon provided 'strong evidence' of unauthorized access by Perplexity, with the company spending over $5,000 to respond, highlighting its commitment to customer data security.
- Security Risk Warning: Amazon's lawsuit indicated that Perplexity's AI agents pose security risks to customer data as they can operate within protected systems requiring passwords, potentially diminishing customer trust and affecting Amazon's user base.
- Advertising Business Challenges: Amazon stated that Perplexity's agents create challenges for its advertising business, necessitating the development of new mechanisms to identify and exclude automated traffic, ensuring advertisers only pay for genuine user impressions, which could increase operational costs and impact profitability.
See More
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- Market Opportunity: BTIG analyst Marvin Fong highlights that Etsy stands to gain the most from OpenAI's decision to scale back Instant Checkout, as the company was the most vulnerable to 'agentic disintermediation', allowing Etsy to attract more customers.
- Risk Mitigation: With the de-emphasis on Instant Checkout, consumers are required to use the Etsy app for purchases, significantly reducing disintermediation risk and enhancing customer loyalty, thereby securing Etsy's market position.
- Competitive Advantage: Fong emphasizes that unlike Amazon and MercadoLibre, Etsy cannot offer perks like expedited shipping or easy returns, making the competitive landscape more favorable for Etsy following the weakening of Instant Checkout.
- Industry Response: OpenAI's decision has been welcomed by online retailers, OTAs, and online vehicle marketplaces, indicating a growing market confidence in Etsy's future growth, which could potentially drive its stock price higher.
See More
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- Economic Growth Slowdown: The latest GDP growth rate stands at 1.4%, below expectations, with consumer spending growth decelerating from 3.5% to 2.4%, indicating fragility in economic recovery that may lead to cautious corporate investment and expansion decisions.
- Inflationary Pressures: The core inflation rate has risen by 3% year-over-year, exceeding market expectations; although the market's initial reaction was muted, persistent high inflation could undermine consumer confidence and spending, posing risks to economic growth.
- Retail Market Dynamics: Walmart's earnings report indicates that high-income consumers continue to spend, while lower-income groups are cutting back due to rising costs, reflecting economic imbalances that may prompt retailers to adjust pricing strategies and market approaches.
See More
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- User Engagement Spike: According to Morgan Stanley analysts, Qwen's daily active users skyrocketed from approximately 17 million before the holiday to 73.5 million, indicating significant progress in user attraction and market penetration for the app.
- Structural Ecosystem Advantage: Unlike many Western tech firms, Alibaba controls multiple components necessary for transaction completion, including Taobao, Alipay, and travel platform Fliggy, providing a structural advantage for its AI shopping initiatives, although integration is still ongoing.
- Future of AI Shopping: While Qwen sometimes produces buying guides instead of directing users to specific listings, companies that can enable actual purchases through AI agents may dominate the future of digital commerce as these agents become the primary interface for online activities.
See More
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- AI Strategic Shift: OpenAI's decision to pause its ambitions for direct travel bookings alleviates investor fears that generative AI could disrupt traditional travel platforms, creating a rebound opportunity for online travel agencies.
- Real-Time Data Challenges: Industry observers note that managing real-time pricing and inventory for travel is technically challenging, indicating that OpenAI still needs to rely on traditional intermediaries for complex global logistics.
- Reaffirmation of Intermediary Value: Analyst Richard Clarke states that OpenAI's pivot is incrementally positive for online travel agencies, allowing companies like Booking and Expedia to continue engaging consumers on AI platforms and reducing the risk of disintermediation.
- Positive Market Reaction: With OpenAI shifting back to a partnership model, the threat of an AI takeover in the travel industry appears to be fading quickly, significantly restoring market confidence in travel-related stocks.
See More
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- Sales Decline: Etsy's gross merchandise sales reached $10.5 billion in 2025, reflecting a 4% year-over-year decline and a 14% drop from the record $12.2 billion in 2021, indicating a waning consumer interest in handcrafted and unique goods, which poses a sobering outlook for future growth.
- Capital Loss: Etsy sold the secondhand fashion marketplace Depop to eBay for $1.2 billion, representing a 25% haircut from its $1.6 billion acquisition price in 2021, highlighting strategic missteps that have eroded shareholder value.
- Focus on Core Business: Under new CEO Kruti Patel Goyal, Etsy is refocusing on its flagship marketplace by divesting from Reverb and Elo7, aiming to enhance operational efficiency and strengthen its competitive position in the market.
- Valuation Concerns: Although Etsy's price-to-sales ratio stands at 2.3, 68% below its historical average, the lack of consistent revenue and profit growth suggests that investors should remain cautious and avoid increasing their stakes in an uncertain market environment.
See More
