For a quarter that saw eBay Inc. (EBAY) closing the sale of its Skype communications unit in a deal valuing the business at $2.75 billion, analysts are projecting earnings of $0.40 per share on revenues of $2.29 billion. The fourth-quarter results are set to be released after the market closes Wednesday, January 20.
Greater competition from peers such as Amazon.com have grabbed eBay's market share, as large sellers and buyers flocked to new sales outlets. eBay has also been struggling through a rough sledding during the fourth quarter, including a one-day critical search functionality in mid-November and a legal dispute with online classified ads company Craigslist Inc.
Most recently, digital marketing intelligence provider comScore Inc. (SCOR) said online holiday shopping sales were up 4%, from last year, to $29.1 billion between the months of November and December. eBay is likely to benefit from the better-than-expected online holiday spending in the U.S. comScore data shows that search queries to eBay.com advanced 7% in December 2009, while Amazon's traffic rose 21%.
For the fourth quarter, eBay expects GAAP earnings of $0.28 - $0.30 per share and non-GAAP earnings of $0.38 - $0.40 per share, on net revenues between $2.20 billion and $2.30 billion. In the prior-year quarter, the company posted non-GAAP earnings of $0.41 per share on revenue of $2.04 billion.
For the previous quarter, the online auctioneer posted a decline in profit totaling $350 million or $0.27 per share, compared to $492 million or $0.38 per share in the previous year, as the weaker U.S. dollar and weak performance in the Marketplaces business unit more than offset strong results in the Payments business unit and Skype. Net revenue advanced 6% to $2.24 billion from $2.12 billion in the year-earlier period.
eBay's rival, Amazon.com Inc. (AMZN) is slated to issue its fourth-quarter results on January 28, with analysts forecasting earnings of $0.71 per share on revenues of $9.00 billion. Amazon.com projects fourth quarter net sales in the range of $8.125 billion - $9.125 billion, representing a growth of 21% - 36% over last year.
eBay shares, which have been trading between $9.91 and $25.80 in the past 52 weeks, is currently ttrading at $22.65, down 61 cents or 2.62%.
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June 05, 2026 16:18 ET A busy week for economic news flow saw a slew of reports being released that reflected the trends in the U.S. labor market. In Europe, economic growth and inflation data gained attention as the European Central Bank and Bank of England head for policy session later in the month. In Asia, the monetary policy session of the Indian central bank was in focus as the country, a major oil importer, reels under the pressures of a weaker rupee and rising inflation.