In the third quarter of 2016, the world's largest online auction site – eBay Inc (NASDAQ: EBAY), reduced its net profit to $ 413 million, or 36 cents per share, from $ 539 million, or 45 cents per share, recorded in the same period last year.
Moreover, the company’s forecasts of revenue and profit for the current quarter were slightly weaker than market expectations, which is why eBay shares fell 8.9% on additional trades after the close of the main session in New York on Wednesday.
The earnings excluding one-off items rose from 43 cents to 45 cents per share, according to the company’s press release. The Wall Street analysts on average evaluated the adjusted profit at 44 cents per share.
The quarterly revenue of eBay rose 5.6%, to $ 2.22 billion, from $ 2.1 billion a year earlier, according to the statements.
The online auction service is trying to find new sources of growth after separating from PayPal Holdings Inc. payment system, which became an independent company last year. During the teleconference on reporting for the third quarter, eBay management announced a new positioning: the company is now trying to attract younger customers, mainly making purchases with their phones.
The number of active customers rose 4% in the third quarter, to 165 million people, which is a bit less than the figure expected by FactSet StreetAccount analysts, at 166.5 million.
In the fourth quarter, eBay expects to receive an adjusted income from continuing operations in the range of 52-54 cents per share on revenue from $ 2.36 billion to $ 2.41 billion.
The analysts on average were expecting 54 cents profit per share and revenue of $ 2.4 billion, according to a survey by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Ebay competes with Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), as well as offline stores, which are rapidly increasing their presence on the Internet.