Holiday Outlook Sends EBay Shares Sharply Lower

EBay Inc forecast quarterly revenue and profit for the crucial holiday shopping season largely below market estimates, sending its shares down 8 percent in extended trading.

The company forecast revenue of $2.36 billion to $2.41 billion and adjusted profit from continuing operations of 52-54 cents per share for the current quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting revenue of $2.40 billion and earnings of 54 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

EBay has been working to reinvent itself since parting ways with PayPal, its main growth engine, in July last year.

The company has been offering a bigger selection of products and more brands and requiring sellers to give more details on products to attract younger shoppers and better compete with Amazon.com Inc and brick-and-mortar retailers that are beefing up their online presence.

Revenue rose 5.6 percent to $2.22 billion in the third quarter, beating the average analyst estimate of $2.19 billion.

Net income fell to $413 million, or 36 cents per share, in the quarter ended Sept. 30 from $539 million, or 45 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, Ebay earned 45 cents per share, beating the average estimate of 44 cents. (Reporting by Anya George Tharakan and Nayyar Rasheed; additional reporting by Rishika Sadam in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)