EBay Swings to Loss But Sees Buyer Growth Across Platforms -- Earnings Review

By Imani Moise

EBay Inc. reported fourth-quarter earnings after the closing bell Wednesday. Here's what you need to know:

EARNINGS: The online marketplace reported a loss of $2.6 billion, or $2.51 a share, compared with a profit of $5.94 billion, or $5.30 a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted earnings matched analysts' expectations at 59 cents. A year earlier eBay earned 54 cents a share on an adjusted basis.

REVENUE: Sales rose 9% to $2.61 billion, matching the Wall Street consensus. Growth was driven by gross merchandise volume, which increased 10% during the quarter.

TAX WATCH: EBay swung to a loss as it reported a $3.1 billion charge related to the recently enacted tax overhaul.

OUTLOOK: The company gave a rosy 2018 outlook -- forecasting adjusted earnings of $2.25 to $2.30 per share on revenue between $10.9 billion and $11.1 billion. Analysts predicted per-share profit of $2.23 on $10.28 billion in sales.

USERS: Across all of the company's platforms active buyers grew 5% to 170 million. EBay's platforms includes its namesake marketplace and ticket vendor StubHub. The company now has 170 million global active buyers.

STOCK MOVE. Shares jumped 3.5% to $42. The stock has risen 27% so far this year.

Write to Imani Moise at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 31, 2018 18:39 ET (23:39 GMT)

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