EBay Inc. grew its revenue and customer roll in the second
quarter, amid a massive security breach and a since-resolved
dispute with activist investor Carl Icahn.
The San Jose, Calif., e-commerce giant reported another
profitable period Wednesday, driven by payments unit PayPal, which
Mr. Icahn had wanted spun off.
But the company offered a somewhat cautious outlook that pushed
its shares down about 2% after hours.
The company said it expects revenue of between $4.3 billion and
$4.4 billion for the current quarter and adjusted earnings of
between 65 cents and 67 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters
were looking for $4.42 billion and 70 cents a share.
EBay also lowered the high end of its revenue forecast for the
year by $200 million, now putting the range at $18 billion to $18.3
billion. It affirmed its earnings view.
Meanwhile, for the three months ended June 30, eBay posted net
income of $676 million, up from $640 million in the same quarter a
year earlier.
Excluding certain expenses, eBay reported earnings of 69 cents a
share, which compares with analysts" forecasts of 68 cents on that
basis. EBay had said it expected earnings between 67 cents and 69
cents a share.
Revenue rose 13% to $4.37 billion from $3.88 billion a year
earlier, in line with eBay's own forecast of a range of $4.33
billion and $4.43 billion.
It was an eventful quarter for eBay. The company in May reported
a security breach to its namesake marketplace that it said could
have compromised some information for its 145 million customers.
EBay said Paypal was unaffected, but the breach was a knock to the
company's reputation for security.
As well, eBay reached a deal with Mr. Icahn to back off his
proposal that the company separate its payments unit; Mr. Icahn
agreed to work with eBay as an adviser.
EBay will have to find a new chief for PayPal after David
Marcus, who had run the division for two years, left for an
executive job at Facebook Inc.
Write to Greg Bensinger at greg.bensinger@wsj.com
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