NEW YORK (TheStreet) --eBay Inc. (EBAY) - Get Report has teamed up with auction house Sotheby's (BID) - Get Report to launch an auction platform that will live-stream Sotheby's New York auctions beginning in April.

Part of eBay's new live auctions platform, ebay.com/Sotheby's is now available for browsing and advanced bidding on some of Sotheby's items leading up to the first live auction on eBay on April 1, the two companies said in a statement.

"The experience enables art aficionados and casual collectors alike to participate in Sotheby's live auctions anytime, anywhere with the same confidence and access of those bidding in person in New York," the statement went on to say.

Shares of eBay are lower by 0.47% to $59.29 in pre-market trading on Tuesday morning. Shares of Sotheby's closed at $40.98 on Monday afternoon.

Additionally, Sotheby's has named Madison Square Garden (MSG) - Get Report Co. executive Tad Smith as its new president and CEO. The auction house made the announcement on Monday, bringing in what the Wall Street Journal describes as an "art world outsider" to help fix relations with restive shareholders and repair global shifts in the shopping habits of collectors.

Separately, TheStreet Ratings team rates EBAY INC as a Buy with a ratings score of B. TheStreet Ratings Team has this to say about their recommendation:

"We rate EBAY INC (EBAY) a BUY. This is driven by several positive factors, which we believe should have a greater impact than any weaknesses, and should give investors a better performance opportunity than most stocks we cover. The company's strengths can be seen in multiple areas, such as its revenue growth, growth in earnings per share, expanding profit margins, largely solid financial position with reasonable debt levels by most measures and increase in net income. We feel these strengths outweigh the fact that the company has had somewhat disappointing return on equity."

Highlights from the analysis by TheStreet Ratings Team goes as follows:

• EBAY's revenue growth trails the industry average of 18.6%. Since the same quarter one year prior, revenues slightly increased by 8.6%. Growth in the company's revenue appears to have helped boost the earnings per share.
• EBAY INC has improved earnings per share by 26.1% in the most recent quarter compared to the same quarter a year ago. This company has reported somewhat volatile earnings recently. But, we feel it is poised for EPS growth in the coming year. During the past fiscal year, EBAY INC reported lower earnings of $0.07 versus $2.18 in the prior year. This year, the market expects an improvement in earnings ($3.11 versus $0.07).
• The gross profit margin for EBAY INC is currently very high, coming in at 73.83%. Regardless of EBAY's high profit margin, it has managed to decrease from the same period last year. Despite the mixed results of the gross profit margin, the net profit margin of 20.78% trails the industry average.
• Despite currently having a low debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, it is higher than that of the industry average, inferring that management of debt levels may need to be evaluated further. Regardless of the somewhat mixed results with the debt-to-equity ratio, the company's quick ratio of 1.43 is sturdy.
• The company, on the basis of net income growth from the same quarter one year ago, has significantly underperformed compared to the Internet Software & Services industry average, but is greater than that of the S&P 500. The net income increased by 20.4% when compared to the same quarter one year prior, going from $850.00 million to $1,023.00 million.
• You can view the full analysis from the report here: EBAY Ratings Report