EBay Posts Second Straight Quarter of Sales Gains

By Greg Bensinger 

EBay Inc. posted its second straight quarter of sales gains, suggesting the online retailer may be turning the corner after a rocky start as an independent company free of payments unit PayPal.

The San Jose, Calif., online marketplace on Wednesday reported $2.23 billion in sales, a 5.7% bump for the period over last year's $2.11 billion. The company reported net income of $435 million, or 38 cents a share, up from $83 million, or 7 cents.

Analysts were expecting eBay to report a per-share profit of 42 cents, excluding certain items. On that basis, eBay had a profit of 43 cents a share.

The online retailer's shares jumped 6% to $28.64 in after-hours trading, after finishing the day up 1.9%.

EBay has struggled to keep apace with other online retailers, particularly since carving off PayPal just over a year ago. The company has sought to bolster its image as a catchall site for rare tchotchkes, as well as new goods. But as Amazon.com Inc. has brought in more third-party sellers, with unique inventory, eBay hasn't been able to maintain its cool.

EBay also is working to revise the index for its entire site to improve its rankings in Google search, a long and painstaking process that requires sellers to provide additional information about their products.

Event ticker reseller StubHub continues to be a bright spot for eBay, posting a 40% increase in sales to $225 million. StubHub recently bought Spanish rival Ticketbis, as well as software firm Ticket Utils and reached a deal to resell tickets for the New York Yankees, which had been a vocal critic.

The retailer said it had 164 million active buyers on the site, up from the first quarter's 162 million.

Write to Greg Bensinger at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 20, 2016 16:53 ET (20:53 GMT)

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