The growing popularity of Internet auctions outside the US pushed eBay's revenues up by 52 per cent in the third quarter and well ahead of Wall Street's estimates.
The company said earnings jumped 77 per cent from a year ago and sales grew by more than half as the world's largest online marketplace added new users at its second-highest rate ever.
In after-hours trading following the report, eBay shares rose $2.54, or nearly 3 per cent, to $93.90. In the regular session, the stock closed down $1.09 at $91.36.
EBay said it earned $182.3 million, or 27 cents a share, up from $103 million, or 16 cents, in last year's third quarter. Excluding one-time items, eBay said it would have earned $195 million, or 28 cents a share. On that basis, analysts expected eBay to earn 27 cents a share.
Quarterly sales rose to $805.9 million from $530.9 million last year, higher than the $780 million analysts estimated. Revenue was boosted by $22 million as a result of favorable currency conversion rates.
Powered by strong growth in Britain, China and other overseas markets, eBay added 11 million new users to its auction and commerce websites, which are now used by 125 million people worldwide to sell everything from cars to toys.
EBay said it expects 2004 sales to total $3.25 billion, $65 million higher than its prior estimate and slightly above the $3.22 billion expected by analysts.
The company said it expects to earn as much as $1.20 a share this year, 3 cents higher than the last estimate it gave and matching analysts' consensus estimate.
For next year, eBay expects to earn $1.50 a share on sales of $4.2 billion. Analysts currently expect eBay to earn $1.61 on sales of $4.29 billion.
AFP