What happened
Shares of eBay (EBAY 0.61%) were down over 7% heading into midday trading Thursday after the online e-commerce platform reported third-quarter earnings after the market closed yesterday.
So what
eBay beat analyst expectations on the top and bottom line, with revenue of $2.61 billion, up 25% from last year and well ahead of the $2.48 billion Wall Street was anticipating. Adjusted earnings of $0.85 per share, a sizable increase from the $0.53 per share it recorded in the year-ago period, also came in well ahead of analyst predictions of $0.76 per share.
eBay also said it saw annual active buyers increase 5% to 183 million, with gross merchandise value rising 2% to $25 billion.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Although such earnings beats tend to cause stock prices to jump, eBay's guidance for the fourth quarter had analysts wondering whether the boost the e-commerce site got from consumers visiting during the coronavirus pandemic would fade.
It forecast fourth-quarter revenue in a range of $2.64 billion to $2.71 billion, a decline of 4% at the midpoint from last year's $2.8 billion, although it includes in part the sale of its classified ads business that should close in the first quarter of 2021. It also guided for earnings of $0.68 to $0.74 per share.
Wall Street, though, is forecasting revenue of $2.7 billion and $0.86 a share in profits for eBay.
