NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - eBay, the wildly successful online auction company, reported substantial increases in earnings and sales in its first quarter, led by strong international business. Earnings nearly doubled from a year ago.

Shares, already trading near their all-time high, surged after-hours on the news.

The San Jose, Calif.-based company reported net income of $200.1 million or 30 cents a share, a 92 percent increase from earnings of $104.2 million, or 16 cents a share a year ago. Excluding one-time items, eBay reported earnings of 31 cents per share, well ahead of analysts' expectations of 26 cents a share, according to First Call.

Sales came in at $756.2 million, a 59 percent increase from a year ago and significantly ahead of Wall Street's $716.6 million consensus estimate.

Transaction revenues, the fees that eBay receives from bringing buyers and sellers together, also rose 59 percent to $738.8 million. The remainder of eBay's sales come mainly from advertising. Gross merchandise sales, which represents the total value of goods sold on eBay, rose 51 percent from a year ago to $8 billion.

Shares of eBay (EBAY: Research, Estimates) gained more than 3 percent in after-hours trading, according to Island ECN, after rising 1.1 percent in regular trading on the Nasdaq Wednesday. The stock has gained 16 percent year-to-date.

"eBay's Q1 results exceeded our highest expectations," said eBay chief executive officer Meg Whitman in a statement. "Our continuing momentum demonstrates yet again the power of eBay's community and reinforces our confidence in the long-term potential of our business."

In the U.S., transaction revenue increased 39 percent from a year ago, to $326.2 million. eBay posted particularly strong gains internationally, with transaction revenues outside of the U.S. surging 87 percent to $257.1 million. International transactions accounted for more than a third of total revenues.

That could increase going forward as the company said it plans to invest aggressively in China and on international expansion of its PayPal online payment unit during the remainder of the year.

The company also raised sales guidance for the second quarter and the remainder of the year. eBay said it expects sales for the second quarter to be as high as $760 million and that full year revenues could reach $3.15 billion. Analysts were expecting sales of $733.6 million in the second quarter and $3.08 billion for the year.

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"Simply put, we could not be more confident and excited about the opportunity ahead of us," said eBay chief financial officer Rajiv Dutta, during a conference call with analysts.

eBay also said it expects earnings for the second quarter, excluding one-time items, to be as high as 26 cents per share, in line with current estimates, and that full year 2004 earnings could come in as high as $1.13 a share. Analysts had forecast earnings of $1.09 a share.

"It's only possible to underestimate eBay," said Safa Rashtchy, an analyst with Piper Jaffray. "They set a high bar but they seem to be able to meet and exceed it every time."

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eBay has bucked the downward trend in tech stocks this year in large part because of its consistently strong performance. The company has continued to benefit from strong consumer spending online.

But during the call Whitman said that she was cautiously optimistic that the company's growing business and industrial segment would continue to generate strong levels of growth as well. The business and industrial store offers goods ranging from computers and other office supplies to agricultural and construction equipment.

And despite some nagging concerns about its valuation -- shares of eBay trade at nearly 70 times 2004 earnings estimates -- one analyst said he sees even more upside ahead.

Mark Mahaney, an analyst with American Technology Research, said the fact that the company reported record operating profit margins of 38 percent in the first quarter justifies its lofty premium to other tech stocks.

"That's really impressive," said Mahaney. "This is a core tech long for investors. It's at its all-time high, and it should be."

Analysts quoted in this story do not own shares of eBay and their firms have no investment banking ties to the company.