EBAY eBay Inc

   By Micah Maidenberg 
 

Ebay Inc. said its second-quarter profit and revenue picked up, reflecting stronger in the digital marketplace during the quarter with many people stuck at home as the coronavirus spread.

Profit rose to $746 million, or $1.05 a share, from $402 million, or 46 cents a share, for the same quarter last year. Ebay reported an adjusted profit of $1.08 a share, ahead of analysts' forecasts by 3 cents.

Revenue rose to $2.87 billion from $2.42 billion. Analysts expected almost $2.8 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Annual active buyers, or accounts that purchased something through the company's platform within the previous 12-month period, rose 5% in the quarter to 182 million. Gross merchandise volumes, measuring the value of completed sales, rose 26% to $27.1 billion in the quarter.

Ebay said its marketplace platforms have seen better results for traffic, sold items and other key metrics due to a "shift to e-commerce shopping resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic."

Sales categories, including home and garden, electronics and auto parts, were among those seeing growth compared to previous quarters, the company said.

Ebay last week said it would sell its classified-ads business to Norway's Adevinta AS, a deal the companies said was valued at about $9.2 billion, including $2.5 billion in cash.

Hedge fund Starboard Value LP had pressured eBay to sell the unit, a move the investor had said would help the company better focus on its digital marketplace.

Starboard, which as of early February owned more than 1% of eBay shares, had nominated directors to join the company's board. In April, the investor withdrew its board candidates after eBay agreed to hire Jamie Iannone as chief executive.

Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2020 16:56 ET (20:56 GMT)

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