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Wednesday, Oct 17, 2012 9:45 PM UTC

EBay posts higher 3Q earnings, revenue

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Topics: From the Wires,

NEW YORK (AP) — EBay’s third-quarter net income grew 22 percent, helped by higher revenue at its PayPal payments service and the marketplaces business that includes eBay.com.

The results were roughly within expectations, with revenue a little light and earnings a tad higher than what Wall Street analysts had predicted. EBay Inc. also raised its full-year guidance slightly.

The online commerce company said Wednesday that it earned $597 million, or 45 cents per share, in the July-September period. That’s up from $491 million, or 37 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue grew 15 percent to $3.4 billion from $2.97 billion.

Adjusted earnings were 55 cents per share in the latest quarter, slightly ahead of Wall Street’s expectations.

Analysts surveyed by FactSet were expecting earnings of 54 cents per share on revenue of $3.41 billion.

“We had a great third quarter across our company, with Marketplaces and PayPal accelerating customer growth,” CEO John Donahoe said in a statement. “Mobile continues to be a game changer for us, and we continue to be a clear leader in mobile commerce and payments.”

EBay is working to take advantage of the increasing number of people who use their smartphones to shop and pay for things.

The company makes most of its money by charging merchants a fee to list items posted for sale. It also generates revenue from PayPal transaction fees. Besides its namesake online marketplace, eBay owns the ticket-selling website StubHub, Shopping.com and GSI Commerce, a provider of e-commerce and online marketing services.

Revenue grew 23 percent to $1.37 billion at PayPal, the company’s fastest-growing business. PayPal ended the quarter with 117.4 million active accounts, up 14 percent from 103 million a year earlier.

Marketplaces revenue increased 9 percent to $1.81 billion, driven by growth in the U.S. and Asia.

EBay, which is based in San Jose, Calif., sees fourth-quarter adjusted earnings of 66 cents to 69 cents per share, bracketing the 68 cents per share that analysts were expecting. It is forecasting $3.85 billion to $4 billion in revenue. Analysts have expected $3.95 billion.

For the full year, eBay now expects adjusted earnings of $2.32 to $2.35 per share on revenue of $13.95 billion to $14.1 billion. Its previous outlook was for adjusted earnings of $2.28 to $2.33 per share on revenue of $13.8 to $14.1 billion. Analysts were forecasting earnings of $2.35 per share and revenue of $14.03 billion.

The company’s stock fell 22 cents to $47.98 in extended trading after the results came out. During the regular session, it lost 4 cents to close at $48.20, which was up 59 percent since the start of the year.

More Barbara Ortutay.

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