EBay Inc. posted a drop in first-quarter profit
EBay Inc. posted a drop in first-quarter profit that nonetheless topped Wall Street estimates, as the company struggled to revive interest in its core Internet auction business.
In recent Thursday trades, shares of eBay (EBAY) leaped 8.5% to $16.03 following the earnings announcement.
After U.S. markets closed Wednesday, San Jose-based eBay said first-quarter net income fell to $357 million, or 28 cents a share, from $460 million, or 34 cents a share, in the same period a year earlier. The San Jose-based Internet auctioneer said revenue for the period ended in March fell to $2.02 billion from $2.19 billion.
Excluding special items, eBay said earnings for the quarter were 39 cents a share.
Analysts on average had estimated eBay would post earnings excluding special items of 33 cents a share, on $1.94 billion in revenue, according to data from Thomson Reuters.
“All in all, we’re a strong company operating in a challenging global environment,” eBay Chief Executive John Donahoe said during a conference call with analysts.
Gross merchandising volume, or the total value of goods sold over eBay, fell 16% to $10.8 billion. Revenue in the company’s core marketplaces unit fell 18% to $1.2 billion.