Ebay results to give investors a look at how the online marketplace fared during the holidays
By APWednesday, January 20, 2010
Ahead of the Bell: EBay to report 4th-qtr results
SAN FRANCISCO — EBay Inc. reports its fourth-quarter earnings Wednesday after U.S. markets close, and the results will give investors a look at how the online marketplace fared during a holiday shopping season in which consumers opened their wallets wider than last year, but competition for their dollars remained fierce on the Web.
EBay has been expecting fairly flat earnings on rising revenue: In October, the company forecast a profit of 28 cents to 30 cents per share, or 38 cents to 40 cents per share when excluding special items, on $2.2 billion to $2.3 billion in revenue.
San Jose, Calif.-based eBay earned 29 cents per share, or 41 cents per share on an adjusted basis, on $2.04 billion in revenue in the year-ago quarter.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expect adjusted earnings of 40 cents per share on $2.28 billion in revenue.
In a recent note to investors, Kaufman Bros. analyst Aaron Kessler predicted that eBay’s results will be in line with his estimate of 41 cents per share on $2.27 billion in revenue, helped by growth in its PayPal payments business and in the transaction revenue from of items sold through its marketplace.
Kessler rates the stock “Buy” with a $29 price target.
