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eBay 1Q beats estimates
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April 25, 2000: 7:07 p.m. ET
User and auction growth spur strong first quarter revenue, profit performance
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NEW YORK (CNNfn) - Internet auction house eBay Inc. on Tuesday reported a first-quarter profit, excluding special items, of six cents a share, double Wall Street expectations, driven by a jump in auctions hosted and registered users.
 San Jose, Calif.-based eBay (EBAY: Research, Estimates), which allows individuals to buy and sell items in categories including antiques, computers, toys, and electronics, also set a 2-for-1 stock split, payable on May 24 to shareholders of record as of May 9.
eBay said it earned $8 million, before special items, for the three months ended March 31, compared with $4.8 million, or 4 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
A consensus of Wall Street analysts surveyed by earnings tracker First Call/Thompson Financial had expected San Jose, Calif.-based eBay to earn 3 cents a share in the quarter. The estimates ranged from 3 cents to 5 cents, First Call said.
 First quarter revenue doubled to $85.8 million from $42.5 million for the same three months in 1999, also outpacing analysts' projections, which had ranged at about $80 million.
eBay said it expanded its number of registered users to 12.6 million by the end of the first quarter, up 230 percent from 3.8 million on March 31, 1999. In addition, the company added a record 2.6 million new users in the quarter, more than in any other quarter in its history.
eBay hosted 53.6 million auctions during the first quarter, compared to 22.9 million during the same period last year, a rise of 133 percent.
"In the first quarter of 2000, eBay achieved unprecedented financial and operational success," said Margaret Whitman, eBay's president and chief executive. "The company is firing on all cylinders as it expands to become a truly global trading platform." 
Salomon Smith Barney analyst Tim Albright applauded the company's results.
"The numbers were terrific," he told CNNfn.com after eBay's conference call with analysts. "There's lots of underlying strength, and lots of good initiatives coming out of (eBay)."
The company is spending also more than doubled in the quarter, with total operating expenses growing to $62 million from 27.1 million a year ago. eBay attributed the larger spending to "significant investments in people, customer support, and equipment to support the site's infrastructure." It noted that personnel costs were the largest single driver of expense growth.
Looking ahead, the company said it would continue to focus on growth in its new segments, including automobiles, payments and international markets. eBay said it expects to score some $20 million more in revenue for the year than estimates it had previously provided to analysts.
Salomon's Albright said the new guidance would push eBay's estimate of 2000 revenues to about $420 million. But the company did not change its outlook for the year's profits, due to continued spending on expansion efforts.
The results were reported after the end of Tuesday's regular trading session. Before the news, eBay shares closed at 153-9/16, up 11-11/16. 
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eBay
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