Happy days are here again for eBay after the world’s largest online auction site reported first quarter sales and profits slightly above the consensus estimate of analysts tracking the stock.
The $554 million profit, or $0.42 a share, and total sales of $2.2 billion outpaced the year-ago results by a modest margin and reinforced the company’s blueprint for sustained growth for the next three years.
E-Commerce Guide takes a closer look eBay’s closely watched financials and delves into the how the company and its customers are responding to CEO John Donahoe’s new business initiatives and policy changes.
“We are improving the fundamentals of our business, strengthening eBay Marketplaces and aggressively growing PayPal to become the leader in global online payments,” Donahue said following the earnings report.
Chief among these new executive priorities is an increased focus on simplifying life for sellers and buyers using mobile devices.
In a sign of the ecommerce sector’s resurgence—and the recovery of one of its leading marketplaces—eBay (NASDAQ: EBAY) posted solid first-quarter earnings, edging out Wall Street forecasts and topping its financial performance from a year earlier.
Thanks to the strong performance of its payments division, the ecommerce giant posted an 11 percent profit over last year, reporting net income of $398 million in the first quarter, up from $357 million a year ago.