EBayturned in a quarterly profit and revenue that both beat expectations, pushing the shares higher in the late trading session, helped by double-digit growth at PayPal and a modest rise in revenue at the e-commerce company's main marketplaces unit.
AP
The online retailer also gave an outlook for the current quarter that outpaced Street forecasts on an adjusted basis.
EBay, which began as an online auction house, but sees most of its sales at fixed prices, is in the latter half of a three-year turnaround focused on its marketplaces unit.
The company said it earned 40 cents a share on an adjusted basis in the third quarter, versus 38 cents a share in the same period last year. The profit is adjusted to exclude telephone unit Skype, which eBay sold.
Revenue was reported at $2.25 million, against $2.238 billion last year.
Revenue in the marketplaces segment rose 3 percent to $1.41 billion, while revenue in payments, which includes PayPal, rose 22 percent.
Gross merchandise volume excluding vehicles—which measures the total value of goods sold on eBay—rose 3 percent in the quarter.
"This is good across all their businesses," said UBS analyst Brian Pitz, adding that the results and forecast would improve lukewarm investor sentiment toward eBay. "They're starting to see traction with marketplaces and they expect pretty decent results in the fourth quarter."
Equity analysts who follow the company had expected eBay to report earnings of 37 cents a share on sales of $2.18 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.
Looking ahead, eBay sees adjusted earnings of 45 cents a share to 48 cents a share in the fourth quarter. Analysts current stand at 44 cents a share for the period.
The earnings report boosted eBay shares, which were trading hands after hours about 5 percent higher. Get after-hour quotes for eBay here.
The stock finished the regular Nasdaq session up slightly at $25.66.
The company said third-quarter net profit was $431.9 million, or 33 cents per share, from $350 million, or 27 cents per share, a year earlier.
San Jose, Calif.-based eBay is in the midst of revamping eBay.com in hopes of enticing buyers and retaining sellers. At the same time, PayPal has grown quickly as an increasing number of merchants and consumers use it on and off eBay.
- Reuters and AP contributed to this report.