EBay raises 2003 targets, beats Q4 guidance

PALO ALTO, CALIFORNIA: Web auctioneer eBay Inc. has posted a fourth-quarter net profit that more than tripled from a year earlier and boosted its 2003 revenue and earnings outlook.

Shares of eBay, which ended the regular Nasdaq session down 3 percent at $71.25, edged higher to $71.65 in after-hours trade.

EBay's net income handily beat Wall Street and company expectations, at $87 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with $25.9 million, or 9 cents, in the year-earlier period. Fourth-quarter net revenues nearly doubled to $413.9 million from $219.4 million.

Ebay Chief Meg Whitman said the accelerated growth was due in part to an aggressive marketing campaign that helped eBay assert itself as a mainstream holiday shopping site. "We've had a terrific quarter," said eBay Chief Financial Officer Rajiv Dutta.

Among other things, gross merchandise sales, the total value of the goods sold on the site, were up 68 percent year-on-year to $4.6 billion; EBay's registered user ranks grew 46 percent to 61.7 million; and international online net revenues grew 173 percent to $107.4 million.

"Is eBay entering a new era as a general e-commerce site rather than a trading site? If that's the case, then the growth can further accelerate," said Safa Rashtchy, an analyst at U.S. Bancorp Piper Jaffray.

EBay forecast first-quarter revenues of $440 million, up 6 percent from the quarter ended December.

EBay's new 2003 guidance calls for revenues of up to $1.9 billion, $70 million higher than the upper end of its previous forecast. The company also forecast full-year net earnings per share as high as $1.12, or 7 cents above the high end of its previous target.

© Reuters