Bucking an industry slump, online auction powerhouse eBay Inc. tripled its net earnings for the third quarter of 2002 and raised its fourth-quarter revenue guidance, citing a surge in transactions.
The company reported net income of $61 million, or 21 cents per share, on revenue of $288.8 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30. That compares with net income of $18.8 million, or 7 cents per share, on revenue of $194 million for the third quarter of last year.
Releasing its results late yesterday, eBay said a spike in user transactions allowed it to meet its own expectations for the quarter. The company had earlier predicted earnings per share of 19 cents, 2 cents per share below what it actually earned.
Third-quarter revenue from online transactions soared 73% over the same period last year, totaling $263.6 million. That compared with the $152.3 million in revenue from online transactions generated in the third quarter of 2001.
"Our success results from our thriving community of users -- buyers looking for practically everything, and sellers using eBay to build their business," eBay President and CEO Meg Whitman said in a statement.
Based on its brighter-than-expected results, and the recent completed acquisition of online payment company PayPal Inc. (see story), eBay raised its revenue and earnings-per-share guidance for the fourth quarter of this year. The company now expects net revenue of $372 million to $381 million, with earnings per share of 19 cents to 20 cents for the last quarter of the year.
The San Jose-based company finalized its purchase of PayPal on Oct. 3, earlier than it expected, and hopes the payment system will add extra cash to its fourth-quarter coffers.
For the full year, the company predicted net revenue of $1.17 billion to $1.18 billion and earnings of 76 cents to 77 cents per share.