Fourth-Quarter Profits Rise 24% at eBay
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
EBay Inc., the world’s largest online auctioneer, said fourth-quarter profit rose 24%, beating analysts’ estimates, as holiday shoppers bought more goods using the company’s PayPal online-payment service. The retailer also boosted its full-year earnings forecast and said in a statement yesterday that it may repurchase as much as $2 billion in additional stock, sending the shares up 13%.
EBay said listings increased 12% as the company benefited from users selling hard-to-find PlayStation3 and Wii game consoles. EBay also offered rebates and free shipping to PayPal users to fend off competition from Google Inc.’s Checkout service, helping the division’s revenue climb 37%.
