Meg who?

eBay (Nasdaq: EBAY) topped Wall Street's targets in CEO Meg Whitman's final quarter at the online marketplace, even as Whitman was no longer around to bask in the glory of last night's conference call.

With earnings and revenue climbing 22% and 24%, respectively, eBay isn't the growth demon it used to be, but at least it's showing its all-weather skills as it navigates through this iffy economy.

It's hard not to be in awe of what Whitman built. When the company mentions that its eBay Motors division has sold more than 3 million cars, or that Skype users have logged more than 100 billion chat minutes, the cumulative sums become staggering to comprehend. And it all happened under Whitman's watch.

Not that eBay is perfect. Most of the company's growth is coming from its lower-margin PayPal and Skype divisions. I also don't like how marketplace revenue continues to grow more quickly than the gross merchandise value sold through the site. In other words, despite all of the fancy talk about lowering insertion fees to become more appealing to sellers, the company is still skimming more off the top.

As great as PayPal is and Skype may one day be, Whitman left at the right time. Making eBay.com itself relevant again will be a challenge, and Wall Street loves to send negative feedback ratings when things don't go as planned.

News to go
Big Blue isn't feeling all that blue after posting better-than-expected quarterly results. IBM (NYSE: IBM) also boosted its near-term outlook. You thought companies were scaling back on their spending? Perhaps, but IBM is now generating more than half of its business outside the United States. That may be how several companies came out winners during this important earnings season. Even eBay is generating more than 50% of its revenue outside the country. So forget income statements. Show me your passport stamps.

CBS (NYSE: CBS) is opening an office in Silicon Valley, according to the Financial Times. Why does a major network want to set up shop in a techie hotbed with pricey real estate? Does it really want to see whether the "chic meets geek" premise of its Big Bang Theory sitcom can stick in the real world? Well, the convergence of television and the Internet is inevitable, and CBS hopes to build out superior media players and social-networking opportunities. Let's just hope that we never see a CBS: Silicon Valley on the primetime calendar. In the meantime, here are some potential names for the new corporate digs that go with the CBS initials:

  • Cyberspace Broadcasting System
  • Creating Better Shows
  • Cannot Boost Survivor
  • Change Before Stagnancy  

What's worse? Legacy carriers or legacy brokers? Continental Airlines (NYSE: CAL) and Merrill Lynch (NYSE: MER) posted steep quarterly losses this morning. They're both writing off shaky assets, with Continental retiring some of its older planes and Merrill writing down even more of its questionable debt investments. As for which report is worse, you have to go with Merrill, where revenue fell by 69% during the period. Continental's top line, meanwhile, grew by 12%, even though higher jet-fuel prices sank the income statement. Who would have thought the day would come when an airline beats an investment banker?

And finally, California Pizza Kitchen (Nasdaq: CPKI) is launching a "Thank You Card" program, in which it's giving out cards to its next 2 million patrons. Every card will contain a prize, from a 10% future meal discount to a whopping $25,000 cash award. I recently wrote about all of the great deals that casual-dining chains are rolling out to woo diners, but this is getting ridiculous. Now I'm getting paid to eat? I wonder what they'll do if I ask for seconds.

Have a great day out there.