How eBay Magically Surprised on Earnings

Guidance was given for the second quarter as EPS in the range of $0.71 to $0.73 and revenues in the range of $4.4 billion to $4.5 billion. There are consensus estimates of $0.71 in EPS and $4.57 billion in revenue.

For the full year the company expects EPS in the range of $3.05 to $3.15 and revenues in the range of $18.35 billion to $18.85 billion. The consensus estimates are $3.10 in EPS and $18.96 billion in revenue.

eBay’s commerce and payments ecosystems continued to increase the role they play in global commerce. However, the strengthening dollar significantly affected first-quarter results and reduced the 9% organic growth rate to 4%.

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In terms of its business segments, compared with the same period in the previous year, eBay reported:

• Payments net revenue of $2.11 billion, up 14%
• Marketplaces net revenue of $2.07 billion, down 4%
• Enterprise net revenue of $288 million, up 7%

PayPal net total payment volume (TPV) grew 18% in the first quarter to $61 billion, with Merchant Services volume up 26% and on-eBay volume down 1%. Payment volume through eBay Marketplaces was $15 billion, representing 24% of total TPV. Revenue grew to $2.1 billion.

PayPal gained 3.6 million new active accounts in the quarter, up 11% to total 165 million. PayPal also processed more than 1 billion transactions in the quarter, up 24%.

John Donahoe, president and CEO of eBay, said:

We had a strong first quarter, with eBay and PayPal off to a good start for the full year. I feel very good about the performance of our teams at eBay and PayPal. Each business is executing well with greater focus and operating discipline as we prepare to separate eBay and PayPal into independent publicly traded companies. We are moving forward with clarity and speed, with a smooth separation expected in the third quarter. We are deeply committed to setting up eBay and PayPal to succeed and to deliver sustainable value to our shareholders.

Wednesday, eBay shares closed up 0.6% at $56.75. After the financial results were released, the initial response in after-hours trading was positive and shares were up 4.4% at $59.27. The stock has a consensus analyst price target of $59.64 and a 52-week trading range of $46.34 to $60.93.

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