eBay Soars in After Hours Trade on Strong Q1 Earnings

eBay EBAY released its fiscal first quarter earnings results after the closing bell on Wednesday. The company reported net income of $570 million or $0.44 per share, compared to $476 million or $0.36 per share, in the year ago period. On an adjusted basis, which is comparable to analysts' consensus, EBAY reported net income of $725 million or $0.55 per share, versus $619 million or $0.47 per share, in last year's corresponding quarter. This compared to Wall Street analysts' consensus EPS estimates of $0.52. Net revenue in the quarter was up 29% to $3.28 billion versus $2.55 billion in last year's first quarter. This compared to analysts' consensus revenue estimates of $3.15 billion. Revenues in the company's Payments unit, which includes PayPal, rose 32% year over year to $1.31 billion. Operating margins at EBAY contracted from 22.2% last year to 19.9%. On a non-GAAP basis, operating margins were 26.9% versus 29.4% in the year ago quarter. Looking ahead, EBAY guided for second quarter net earnings between $0.49 to $0.51 per share and adjusted net earnings of $0.53 to $0.55 per share. Revenues in Q2 are expected to be between $3.25 and $3.35 billion. Currently, analysts are projecting that the company will report earnings per share of $0.54 on revenue of $3.36 billion in Q2. For fiscal 2012, EBAY is now guiding for net earnings of $1.91 to $1.96 per share and adjusted earnings of $2.30 to $2.35 per share. Revenues are expected to be between $13.80 billion and $14.10 billion. Previously, the company had guided for net earnings of $1.91-$1.96 per share, adjusted earnings of $2.25-$2.30, and revenues of $13.70-$14.00 billion. In Wednesday's after hours trading session, EBAY shares are trading up 7.58% to $38.59.