eBay Inc. (NDAQ:EBAY) share rose $3.20, or 10.67%, to $33.12 today after the company surprised investors with a strong finish to a mixed year. The company's
8-K filing with the SEC revealed record net revenues of $1.7 billion with a net income of $346 million, or $0.24 per share. eBay also announced that it had repurchased $1 billion worth of stock and planned to expand its program to an additional $2 billion.
Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay, commented, "Q4 was an excellent quarter for eBay, bringing 2006 to a very good close. All three of the company’s business units delivered impressive results this quarter, including record net revenues from our Marketplaces business, strong total payment volume on PayPal, and a triple-digit increase in the number of Skype users." Specifically, eBay saw a 24% growth in net revenues from its Marketplaces business, a 57% increase in total payment volume for its PayPal segment, and a 129% increase in the number of Skype users.
Meanwhile, Bob Swam, Chief Financial Officer, stated, "Overall, Q4 was a great quarter, with strong results across all of our businesses. The $1 billion share repurchase we executed this quarter, in addition to expanding the program for another $2 billion, further underscores our confidence in the long-term outlook of the business." These share repurchases will continue to increase the company's earnings per share, as it now expects to make between $0.28 to $0.30 for Q1 2007 and $1.25 to $1.29 for FY2007. Combined, these aspects make eBay a stock worth
taking a look at over the next few months.
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