eBay 1Q Earnings Meet Expectations But Expenses Rise, Stock Falls on News

[regic]

conference call-Blaming the lower GMV growth on store listings being included in main search

EDIT--Meg was the one speaking who blamed store listings

[regic]

conference call-competitive pressures in Korea

And its finally over

[bargainbloodhound]

A couple of more stats

GMV (gross merchandise value):
BIN (buy it now)  34% Auctions 66%

Number of Non-Stores Listings  399.8
Number of Stores Listings 32.0

Revenues:
US Marketplaces $404,848,000
International  Marketplaces $393,792,000
Payments-PayPal      $233,084,000
Communications-Skype ...basically zero (how fitting for a company that doesn't communicate )

[amy]

Earnings release day wouldn't be complete without Meg thanking the community with the same copy and paste message she's used for the past 26 years [eBay was too around in 1980!!!--I can show you a member profile to prove it  ]

Today, we announced eBay's financial results for the first quarter ending March 31, 2006. I'm happy to report that the company delivered excellent results in Q1.

The success eBay enjoyed this quarter is a direct result of our Community of members. Your passion and loyalty have helped us build a thriving marketplace that continues to grow quarter after quarter.

We look forward to working together for even greater success throughout the year.

Thank you,
Meg

[stardust]

[mandy]

More statistics:
US Marketplace growth 30% (down from 39%)
International Marketplaces growth: 25% (down from 35%)

Press coverage of eBay's earnings:

Los Angeles Times: EBay Outlook Dismays Traders
full article: http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-eb...s-business

Bloomberg: EBay Shares May Drop After Forecasts Fall Short of Estimates

EBay Inc. shares may fall today after the world's largest auctioneer gave a disappointing outlook for this year, signaling growth may be slowing.

The San Jose, California-based company forecast annual sales of up to $5.9 billion, below the $5.96 billion estimated by analysts. It said profit for 2006 may be 7 cents less than Wall Street expectations...

Chief Executive Officer Meg Whitman said on a conference call new rivals in South Korea may slow EBay's revenue growth in that country. [Signficant because Korea, not China, is eBay's largest revenue source in Asia] Profit may be crimped by extra spending on steps to enhance online security. Competition is growing from Google Inc. and Amazon.com Inc., which are winning business from merchants and developing services that may sap Ebay's revenue...

full article: http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=aUE5UpnCQNyo&refer=news_index

Financial Times: Ebay data fail to dispel growth concerns

Ebay’s latest quarterly results on Wednesday failed to dispel concerns that growth in its core online auctions business is decelerating...

During the latest quarter, growth in the company’s auction business was hampered in part by a switch to a new way of displaying listings from its stores service, which lets sellers list higher volumes of products at lower cost. A decision halfway through the quarter to display stores listings when buyers search for products on eBay had not gone down well in the US, said Bob Swan, chief financial officer. Many buyers had felt overwhelmed by the number of items and left eBay rather than bid, he added.

As a result, eBay’s gross merchandise volume – the total value of goods traded through its sites – had risen by only 18 per cent in the period,...

full article: http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1c78e3ea-cffa-1...e2340.html

Business Week: eBay's Diminished Expectations

... Indeed, some sellers have reported for some time that their profit margins on eBay are eroding. That's one factor that has prompted some of them to move some of their inventory to other marketplaces, such as Amazon.com , Overstock.com , and Google Base.

"There are a lot of signs pointing to a slowdown in business activity within eBay's marketplaces," says Derek Brown, an analyst with Pacific Growth Equities, who has a sell rating on the stock...

What's more, search giant Google is coming on strong. Its free Google Base listings service, coupled with a new payment system, threatens to undercut eBay by offering merchants a cheaper venue on which to sell. "They're definitely seeing more competitive threats," says Rodrigo Sales, CEO of Vendio Services, which helps merchants sell online at venues such as eBay....

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/c...op+stories

[regic]

The stock is down 9%  today to 36.84.  The stock began 2005 near 60.