EBay Jumps After Earnings Gain In Holiday-shopping Quarter

EBay shares rose more than 7% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the e-commerce company detailed growth in the holiday-shopping season. The online-shopping destination reported net income of almost $6 billion, or $5.31 a share, thanks to a $4.6 billion income tax benefit and $800 million from the sale of its holdings in MercadoLibre Inc. EBay said that aside from those one-time gains, and after adjusting for stock-based compensation and other factors, it had profit of 54 cents a share on revenue of $2.4 billion for the fourth quarter. Analysts on average expected eBay to report adjusted earnings of 53 cents a share, up from 50 cents in the year-ago quarter, on revenue of $2.4 billion, according to FactSet. "Q4 was a record quarter highlighted by solid performance in our eBay business," eBay Chief Executive Devin Wenig said in the announcement. "During the holiday season, eBay was one of the top consumer shopping destinations in the world and the second most visited eCommerce site in the U.S." EBay predicted that it would have adjusted earnings of 46 cents to 48 cents a share in the first quarter of 2017 and $1.98 to $2.03 for the full year, both below analyst estimates, according to FactSet. EBay stock, which closed with a 0.8% gain at $30.23, increased to about $32.50 in late trading after the report was released.