eBay Inc (EBAY) Hits Estimates, But GAAP Results Lag Last Year’s

eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) reported earnings on Jan. 16. Here are the numbers you need to know.

The 10-second takeaway
For the quarter ended Dec. 31 (Q4), eBay met expectations on revenues and met expectations on earnings per share.

Compared to the prior-year quarter, revenue increased significantly and GAAP earnings per share dropped significantly.

Margins contracted across the board.

eBay Earnings ReportRevenue details
eBay chalked up revenue of $3.99 billion. The 30 analysts polled by S&P Capital IQ wanted to see revenue of $3.98 billion on the same basis. GAAP reported sales were 18% higher than the prior-year quarter’s $3.38 billion.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Dollar amounts in millions. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

EPS details
EPS came in at $0.70. The 32 earnings estimates compiled by S&P Capital IQ predicted $0.69 per share. GAAP EPS of $0.57 for Q4 were 63% lower than the prior-year quarter’s $1.52 per share.

Source: S&P Capital IQ. Quarterly periods. Non-GAAP figures may vary to maintain comparability with estimates.

Margin details
For the quarter, gross margin was 69.4%, 30 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Operating margin was 21.9%, 70 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter. Net margin was 18.8%, 3,980 basis points worse than the prior-year quarter.

Looking ahead
Next quarter’s average estimate for revenue is $3.80 billion. On the bottom line, the average EPS estimate is $0.63.

Next year’s average estimate for revenue is $16.31 billion. The average EPS estimate is $2.75.

Investor sentiment
The stock has a four-star rating (out of five) at Motley Fool CAPS, with 3,775 members out of 4,341 rating the stock outperform, and 566 members rating it underperform. Among 1,259 CAPS All-Star picks (recommendations by the highest-ranked CAPS members), 1,174 give eBay a green thumbs-up, and 85 give it a red thumbs-down.

Of Wall Street recommendations tracked by S&P Capital IQ, the average opinion on eBay is outperform, with an average price target of $55.44.

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The article eBay Hits Estimates, But GAAP Results Lag Last Year’s originally appeared on Fool.com.

Seth Jayson had no position in any company mentioned here at the time of publication. You can view his stock holdings here. He is co-advisor of Motley Fool Hidden Gems, which provides new small-cap ideas every month, backed by a real-money portfolio. The Motley Fool recommends eBay. The Motley Fool owns shares of eBay. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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