EBay Inc.’s third-quarter net profits fell, but the e-commerce company’s initial outing as a stand-alone company sans PayPal was strong enough to top Wall Street’s expectations and push the stock up 9 percent to $26.38 in after-hours trading.
The company’s net earnings decreased 19.9 percent to $539 million, or 45 cents a share, from $673 million, or 54 cents a year earlier. Earnings from continuing operations rose 7 percent to $545 million. Adjusted earnings of 43 cents a share came in 3 cents ahead of the 40 cents analysts had penciled in for the company.
Revenues for the quarter ended Sept. 30 slipped 2.4 percent to $2.1 billion from $2.15 billion.
The gross merchandise volume of goods sold through the company slipped 2 percent to $19.6 billion, but rose 6 percent on a currency-neutral basis as eBay’s active buyer base increased 5 percent to 159 million.
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Launched 20 years ago, eBay has been working hard to transform for the new digital age, dominated by mobile and tech giants, including e-commerce competitor Amazon.