This is just what eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY) needed. A blowout quarter. Another superb showing from PayPal. Continued heady expansion abroad. And, more importantly, sequential revenue growth in its flagship domestic auction business.
Sure, revenues soaring by 40% to hit $1.1 billion is nice. Earning $0.21 a share for the June quarter when it had guided investors to expect profits to come in between $0.16 and $0.18 a share, is nicer. However, the real gem lies a few lines deeper in the company's press release. That's where one discovers that eBay's net marketplace revenues rose by 27% in the United States for the quarter.
What's that? Growth of 27% year-over-year doesn't sound all that inspiring? At a sum of $423.6 million, the company's domestic auction business is now just 39% of the eBay revenue pie, so who cares how many Pez dispensers shipped out of a converted farmhouse in Des Moines?
Well, let's see here. Come along on a joyous field trip to see how this line item has fared in recent quarters when it comes to year-over-year growth.
| Quarter | U.S. Marketplace Revenue Growth |
|---|---|
| Q1 2004 | 39% |
| Q2 2004 | 32% |
| Q3 2004 | 29% |
| Q4 2004 | 24% |
| Q1 2005 | 20% |
| Q2 2005 | 27% |
Until last night, we had been seeing a gradual decline here. The fact that eBay's slowing domestic growth seems to have bottomed out during the March quarter at 20% is fantastic news. This does not mean that we are back on the incline for keeps. It's important to be realistic about a company this far along in its growth cycle. Improvement, after so many periods of deterioration in its stateside growth rate, is appreciated in any form and for however long it lasts.
Yes, this is now just 39% of eBay's business, but it has also been the catalyst to the company's success abroad as well as the reason why many folks opened up a PayPal account in the first place.
eBay is also upgrading its outlook for the year as a whole. It now expects to earn between $0.77 and $0.78 a share in 2005. A quarter ago, its range was set between $0.71 and $0.73 a stub. Net revenues are now projected to come in between $4.34 billion and $4.41 billion.
Sure, eBay's competitors are hungry. Overstock.com (NASDAQ:OSTK) has gotten creative in its efforts to promote its consumer-based auctions while uBid -- once part of the CMGI (NASDAQ:CMGI) family -- is making headway in business-based auctions. Yahoo! (NASDAQ:YHOO) and Amazon.com (NASDAQ:AMZN) haven't shuttered their auction sites yet, despite the rustling tumbleweeds.
None of them will catch up to eBay. Even when Meg Whitman's company was struggling, it was hard to give any rival a chance. Now that eBay is rolling again, it will only leave more dust in its wake.
Some related links to bid on:
- Take a closer Foolish look at eBay's quarter.
- eBay's last quarter was a mixed bag of results.
- eBay is still a story stock worth telling.
- Share your thoughts on our eBay discussion board.
eBay shares have more than doubled since they were first recommended three summers ago in the Motley Fool Stock Advisor newsletter service.
Longtime Fool contributor Rick Munarriz is a satisfied eBay user -- with the 147 positive feedback recs to show for it. He does not own shares in any of the companies mentioned in this story. He is also part of the Rule Breakers newsletter research team, seeking out tomorrow's ultimate growth stocks a day early. The Fool has a disclosure policy .
