By Maria Armental 

Online marketplace eBay Inc. reported its quarterly profit fell 57% and gave a disappointing revenue forecast for the December quarter, which typically gets a holiday shopping boost.

The California company, hurt by sluggish sales and a clash with some investors over the focus of the business, also cut the high end of its profit and revenue outlook for the year.

Shares, which closed Wednesday at $39.20, fell 2.6% in after-hours trading.

The latest financial report was eBay's first since Devin Wenig stepped down as chief executive, citing conflicts with the company's new board that is overseeing the strategic review.

Scott Schenkel, eBay's chief financial officer, was appointed CEO on a temporary basis, while Andy Cring, vice president of global financial planning and analysis, was appointed interim finance chief.

On Wednesday, eBay said it expects to give a StubHub business update before the next earnings release and that it has a three-year plan to improve margins and invest in customer initiatives to drive growth.

EBay paid its first quarterly dividend in March and agreed to review operations and add three new board members under agreements with Elliott Management Corp. and Starboard Value LP, which had pushed for eBay to get rid of the StubHub ticketing and classified-advertising businesses.

EBay was founded in 1995 -- the same year that Amazon launched as an online bookstore -- and became a success story during the dot-com heyday but it has struggled to match Amazon.com Inc. In 2015, eBay spun out payment platform PayPal Holdings Inc.

The company on Wednesday reported about 183 million active buyers across its marketplace and StubHub platforms, compared with 182 million in the June quarter and 177 million a year earlier, while gross merchandise volume fell 4% from the comparable period a year earlier to $21.72 billion.

Analysts expected about 183 million in active buyers and $22 billion in gross merchandise volume.

Overall, eBay's quarterly profit fell 57% to $310 million, or 37 cents a share. On an adjusted basis, profit rose to 67 cents a share from 56 cents a share a year earlier.

Net revenue was flat at $2.65 billion.

EBay had projected 40 cents to 44 cents a share, or 62 cents to 65 cents a share on an adjusted basis, and $2.61 billion to $2.66 billion in revenue.

Write to Maria Armental at maria.armental@wsj.com

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 23, 2019 17:26 ET (21:26 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Feb 2024 a Mar 2024 Haga Click aquí para más Gráficas eBay.
eBay (NASDAQ:EBAY)
Gráfica de Acción Histórica
De Mar 2023 a Mar 2024 Haga Click aquí para más Gráficas eBay.