EBay Profit Falls as Strategic Review Continues
October 23 2019 - 5:41PM
Dow Jones News
By Maria Armental
Online marketplace eBay Inc. reported its quarterly profit fell
57% and gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the December
quarter, which typically gets a holiday shopping boost.
The California company, hurt by sluggish sales and a clash with
some investors over the focus of the business, also cut the high
end of its profit and revenue outlook for the year.
Shares, which closed Wednesday at $39.20, fell 2.6% in
after-hours trading.
The latest financial report was eBay's first since Devin Wenig
stepped down as chief executive, citing conflicts with the
company's new board that is overseeing the strategic review.
Scott Schenkel, eBay's chief financial officer, was appointed
CEO on a temporary basis, while Andy Cring, vice president of
global financial planning and analysis, was appointed interim
finance chief.
On Wednesday, eBay said it expects to give a StubHub business
update before the next earnings release and that it has a
three-year plan to improve margins and invest in customer
initiatives to drive growth.
EBay paid its first quarterly dividend in March and agreed to
review operations and add three new board members under agreements
with Elliott Management Corp. and Starboard Value LP, which had
pushed for eBay to get rid of the StubHub ticketing and
classified-advertising businesses.
EBay was founded in 1995 -- the same year that Amazon launched
as an online bookstore -- and became a success story during the
dot-com heyday but it has struggled to match Amazon.com Inc. In
2015, eBay spun out payment platform PayPal Holdings Inc.
The company on Wednesday reported about 183 million active
buyers across its marketplace and StubHub platforms, compared with
182 million in the June quarter and 177 million a year earlier,
while gross merchandise volume fell 4% from the comparable period a
year earlier to $21.72 billion.
Analysts expected about 183 million in active buyers and $22
billion in gross merchandise volume.
Overall, eBay's quarterly profit fell 57% to $310 million, or 37
cents a share. On an adjusted basis, profit rose to 67 cents a
share from 56 cents a share a year earlier.
Net revenue was flat at $2.65 billion.
EBay had projected 40 cents to 44 cents a share, or 62 cents to
65 cents a share on an adjusted basis, and $2.61 billion to $2.66
billion in revenue.
Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 23, 2019 17:26 ET (21:26 GMT)
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