E-commerce giant eBay’s first quarter earnings rose six per cent to reach $2.1 billion, as efforts to improve its shopping platform attracted more buyers.
For the quarter ended March 31, eBay recorded a gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $20.5 billion, increasing five per cent on a foreign exchange neutral basis and one per cent on an as-reported basis, reflecting the continued impact of a strong US dollar. GMV measures the total transactions that occurs on eBay’s platforms.
The company’s revenue for the quarter was up six per cent on a foreign exchange neutral basis and 4 per cent on an as-reported basis, driving non-GAAP net income from continuing operations of $550 million and GAAP net income from continuing operations of $482 million.
During the quarter, the company generated $641 million of operating cash flow and $483 million of free cash flow from continuing operations while also repurchasing $1.0 billion of its common stock.
“Q1 represents another quarter of solid results, as we continue to position eBay for long-term success,” said Devin Wenig, president and CEO of eBay Inc.
“We are executing our plan and making progress on our strategic priorities to ensure our buyers have the best choice of products and a simple, personalised shopping experience, while sellers benefit from our powerful selling platform,” Wenig said.
Ebay has been through a series of revamps in the past year, as it tries to reshape its image to lean more toward an online marketplace and veer away from a platform for buying and selling used goods and antiques. The company’s international sales were affected due to flagging growth abroad and adverse currency rates.
Ebay’s marketplace platforms delivered $19.6 billion of GMV and $1.8 billion in revenue for the first quarter. Marketplace revenue was up 3 per cent on an FX-neutral basis and flat year over year on an as-reported basis, driven by stable GMV growth and strong performance in marketing services & other.
StubHub had another quarter of strong performance, driving GMV of $869 million and revenue of $177 million, up 34 per cent, aided by strength in sports and concerts in addition to a number of product innovations. The classifieds platforms delivered another quarter of accelerating growth with revenue of $186 million, up 17 per cent on an FX-neutral basis and up 15 per cent on an as-reported basis, primarily driven by strong performance in Germany and the United Kingdom.
The e-commerce giant said it expected full year revenue of between $8.6 billion and $8.8 billion, compared to its previous forecast of $8.5 billion to $8.8 billion.
