EBay Inc. shares rose nearly 10% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the online marketplace provider’s results beat expectations as revenue rose along with gross merchandise volume during the quarter that included the holidays.
The San Jose, Calif.-based company reported fourth-quarter net income of $781 million, or $1.12 a share, compared with $535 million, or 66 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings were 86 cents a share, adjusted for depreciation and amortization, stock-based compensation, deferred income taxes and more. Revenue rose to $2.9 billion from $2.3 billion in the year-ago quarter. Analysts surveyed by FactSet had forecast earnings of 83 cents a share on revenue of $2.7 billion, and they were bullish because holiday sales grew 32% year over year, according to data from Adobe.
EBay’s gross merchandise volume for the quarter rose 21% to $26.6 billion. The company launched an authenticity guarantee for luxury watches and sneakers, and said it saw a double-digit gross-merchandise volume increase in luxury watches from the third to the fourth quarter, and triple-digit growth in sneakers year over year. It also said refurbished gifts were a top trend for holiday shoppers.
For the full year, eBay
EBAY,
revenue rose to $10.3 billion, up 19% and beating analysts’ estimate of $10.27 billion, and gross merchandise volume increased 17% to $100 billion. The company said its total ad revenue passed $1 billion for the year, a milestone.
Annual active buyers increased 7% to 185 million globally, with the company adding 2 million buyers in the fourth quarter from the previous quarter. On the earnings call, Chief Executive Jamie Iannone attributed that rise partly to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Iannone also said eBay intends to try to keep expanding its customer base by focusing on Gen Z and millennial customers, as it did with sneakers and other categories.
EBay expects first-quarter earnings of 81 cents to 86 cents on revenue of $2.94 billion to $2.99 billion, while analysts had forecast 85 cents a share on revenue of $2.5 billion.
Shares of eBay had closed the regular session up 1.2% to $58.04. They have increased 14% so far this year, and are up 20% in the past three months. The S&P 500 Index
SPX,
is up nearly 2% year-to-date.
The company also boosted its quarterly dividend to 18 cents a share, up 13%, and announced that it has appointed Julie Loeger as global chief growth officer and Cornelius Boone as chief people officer.
