The big news this past year for eBay came in September with the announcement that eBay and its payment business PayPal will split into separate companies this year. The split was at least partially the work of activist investor Carl Icahn. This investment did prove to be fruitful for Icahn, as one of his Icahn Capital executives will be appointed to the board of eBay at the time of the spinoff.
PayPal’s net total payment volume grew 24% in the fourth quarter with Merchant Services volume up 33% and on-eBay volume up 3%. Revenue grew to $2.2 billion. PayPal gained 4.6 million new active registered accounts in the quarter.
eBay Marketplaces gross merchandise volume grew 2%, with the U.S. up 3% and International up 1%. Revenue grew to $2.3 billion. Marketplaces gained 2.9 million new buyers in the quarter. eBay Enterprise gross merchandise sales grew 9% in the quarter. Revenue grew to $443 million.
The company also announced that during the first quarter it plans to reduce its workforce globally by approximately 2,400 positions which represents about 7% of the total workforce across eBay Marketplaces, PayPal, and eBay Enterprise.
John Donahoe, President and CEO of eBay, commented on the year and when PayPal and eBay plan to separate:
In a year of unexpected events and distractions, we ended 2014 with double-digit revenue growth, solid earnings growth and strong cash flow, reflecting the fundamental strengths of our company. PayPal had another strong quarter, finishing an excellent year. eBay, while facing challenges, continues to be a great business and is focused on stabilizing performance and engaging its core customers. Looking ahead, our plans are on track to separate eBay and PayPal into independent companies in the second half of 2015, and we are confident this is the right strategic path for each business.
Recently analysts weighed in on the direction that they think eBay is heading. B. Riley reiterated a Buy rating with a $64 price target, implying an upside of 19% from Tuesday’s closing price. It is worth noting that this call was made the same day earnings will be released. Earlier in the month, Topeka Capital Markets issued a Hold rating for eBay and lowered its price target to $57 from $58.
Shares of eBay closed Wednesday down 0.5% at $53.38. Following the release of the earnings report, the initial response in the post market was positive and shares were up almost 3% at $54.85.
The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $58.27 and a 52-week trading range of $46.34 to $59.70. eBay has a market cap of roughly $67 billion.
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