EBay's stock is on the upswing after strong results and guidance, dividend hike

By Jon Swartz

EBay Inc.'s stock rose 3% in extended trading Tuesday after the online marketplace delivered quarterly results that topped analysts' estimates and issued stout guidance, assuaging for now concerns over its short-term business prospects.

The e-commerce company hiked its dividend by two cents and announced a $2 billion stock repurchase program.

EBay (EBAY) rang up fiscal fourth-quarter net income of $728 million, or $1.07 a share, compared with net income of $671 million, or $1.07 a share, in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue climbed to $2.56 billion from $2.51 billion in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet had expected on average net income of $1.03 a share on revenue of $2.51 billion.

EBay provided first-quarter sales guidance of $2.5 billion to $2.54 billion, while FactSet analysts are forecasting $2.53 billion.

Shares of eBay have declined 3% over the past year, while the broader S&P 500 index SPX has increased 28%.

Analysts said eBay's fourth-quarter performance underscores a resilient e-commerce market for shoppers despite their concerns over the state of the economy and competition from Chinese sellers, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) and Walmart Inc. (WMT).

The results come amid a rough patch for eBay. Last month, the company said it planned to slash 9% of its workforce, or about 1,000 people, in the face of a business slowdown and "challenging" economy, eBay Chief Executive Jamie Iannone said in a blog post.

Iannone said the size of the company's staff and its expenses "have outpaced the growth of our business." EBay is also terminating its relationship with contractors.

-Jon Swartz

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02-27-24 2050ET

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