EBAY eBay Inc

By Maria Armental

Online marketplace eBay Inc.'s fourth-quarter results and first-quarter financial projections beat Wall Street estimates. Here's what you need to know.

PROFIT: Net income for the quarter rose to $845 million from $556 million a year earlier. Earnings per share were $1.21 a share in the quarter, up from 69 cents a share previously. The company had projected 58 cents to 64 cents a share, while analysts surveyed by FactSet expected 64 cents a share.

REVENUE: Net revenue rose to $2.87 billion from $2.24 billion a year ago. The company projected $2.64 billion to $2.71 billion, while analysts expected $2.71 billion.

KEY METRICS: Annual active buyers rose 7% to 185 million, while gross merchandise volume climbed 21% to $26.6 billion.

YEAR: The company ended the year with a $5.67 billion profit on $10.27 billion in revenue, up from a profit of $1.79 billion and $8.64 billion in revenue a year earlier.

OUTLOOK: This quarter, eBay projects a profit of 81 cents to 86 cents a share, or $1.03 to $1.08 a share as adjusted, on $2.94 billion to $2.99 billion in revenue. Analysts expect 70 cents a share, or 85 cents as adjusted, and $2.53 billion in revenue.

BUSINESS UPDATE: The company said it remains on track to close the sale of its classified-ad business to Adevinta in the first quarter. While it reviews potential alternatives for its Korea business, it is considering other options to increase shareholder value and growth opportunities, eBay said.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 03, 2021 16:47 ET (21:47 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.