eBay's third-quarter earnings report beat analysts' projections, and is giving the company high hopes for the upcoming selling season.
On Wednesday, eBay reported it earned $432 million—a 23 percent increase—during the third quarter, compared to $350 million during 2009's third quarter. Revenue remained flat with the second quarter at $2.2 billion, but rose 1 percent compared to a year ago.
While PayPal once again helped increase eBay's numbers, marketplace sales on both the U.S. and the U.K. sites also did their part, increasing by 13 percent, year over year.
eBay's payment processors, which include PayPal and Bill Me Later, increased by 22 percent and generated $838 million in net revenue compared to $688 million in 2009. PayPal played a key role here, as it increased in both total payment volume and active accounts. PayPal closed the quarter with 90 million active accounts.
"We delivered strong third-quarter results with great performance at PayPal and stable results at eBay," says eBay President and CEO John Donahoe. "PayPal gained share globally, and eBay continued to improve key metrics. Our company is strong, and we are managing our global portfolio to balance strengths, challenges and opportunities, invest in growth and deliver consistent performance."
The solid third-quarter numbers give eBay reason to expect a profitable final quarter. The company expects more shoppers to venture onto its sites for the holidays this year, and estimates sales will reach between $2.39 billion and $2.49 billion as consumers shop for gifts. Overall, the company expects to earn between $9.05 Billion and $9.15 billion in net revenue for all of 2010.
Auctiva staff writers constantly monitor trends and best practices of those selling on eBay and elsewhere online. They attend relevant training seminars and trade shows and regularly discuss the market with PowerSellers and other market experts.
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