eBay grew Gross Merchandise Volume (the value of goods sold on its Marketplaces) by 13% in the first three months of 2018, or by 7% on an FX neutral basis (foreign exchange). That was the same FX-neutral growth rate as the marketplace reported in the fourth quarter.
eBay said growth was aided “by continued expansion of new user experiences.”
eBay Marketplace platforms delivered $2.1 billion of revenue and $22.5 billion of GMV.
(Look for an accompanying EcommerceBytes Blog post later this evening after eBay’s earnings call with Wall Street analysts.)
UPDATE: Take a look at the EcommerceBytes Blog for news coming out of the Q1 earnings call.
Press release follows:
eBay Inc., a global commerce leader, delivered revenue for the quarter ended March 31, 2018 of $2.6 billion, increasing 12% on an as-reported basis and 7% on a foreign exchange (FX) neutral basis, primarily driven by gross merchandise volume (GMV) of $23.6 billion, up 13% on an as-reported basis and 7% on an FX-Neutral basis.
During the quarter, eBay delivered GAAP net income from continuing operations of $407 million, or $0.40 per diluted share and Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations of $548 million, or $0.53 per diluted share. The company generated $495 million of operating cash flow and $337 million of free cash flow from continuing operations while also repurchasing $1.0 billion of its common stock in the quarter.
“In Q1 we drove good growth and made further progress with our multi-year effort to transform our customer experience and sharpen the eBay brand,” said Devin Wenig, President and CEO of eBay Inc.
In the first quarter, eBay grew active buyers by 4% across its platforms, for a total of 171 million global active buyers. Underlying total eBay Inc. performance, the Marketplace platforms delivered $2.1 billion of revenue and $22.5 billion of GMV. Marketplace revenue growth was 11% on an as-reported basis and 7% on an FX-Neutral basis and GMV was up 13% on an as-reported basis and 7% on an FX-Neutral basis, aided by continued expansion of new user experiences.
StubHub drove revenue of $232 million, up 9% on both an as-reported basis and FX-Neutral basis, and GMV of $1.0 billion, up 14% on an as-reported basis and 13% on an FX-Neutral basis, driven by a robust sports landscape, including a record Super Bowl, and strong international growth.
Classifieds platforms delivered another quarter of double-digit growth with revenue of $246 million, up 24% on an as-reported basis and 10% on an FX-Neutral basis, driven primarily by strength in Germany.
The company continues to innovate and transform the shopping experience for its customers. In the first quarter, eBay launched a new product based commerce experience to a subset of its users, leveraging its structured data foundation. As part of its effort to build immersive and engaging buying and selling experiences, eBay also introduced a new augmented reality shipping tool to help customers find the right box to ship an item that is as easy as holding up a mobile phone. eBay’s development teams are using artificial intelligence (AI) to sharpen the overall search experience, leveraging data and AI to improve recall and relevance on the eBay platform. During the quarter, eBay also appointed Jan Pedersen, a proven leader in AI, as Chief Scientist, Artificial Intelligence.
eBay recently released its 2017 Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) Report, which highlights momentum in the company’s D&I programs and partnerships across its workforce, workplace and marketplace, along with changes in eBay’s people data. The report also discloses the results of eBay’s second annual global study of gender pay equity, which found that women earn 100% of what men earn in terms of total compensation in the U.S., and women earn 100.1% of what men earn in terms of total compensation globally.
During the quarter, eBay announced that it will acquire Giosis’ Japan business, including the Qoo10.jp platform. This acquisition will significantly expand eBay’s footprint in Japan, one of the largest e-commerce markets in the world, and is expected to close in the second quarter of 2018.
Other Selected Financial and Operational Results
Operating margin – GAAP operating margin decreased to 22.5% for the first quarter of 2018, compared to 23.7% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 27.9% in the first quarter of 2018, compared to 28.9% for the same period last year.
Taxes – The GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the first quarter of 2018 was 25.6%, compared to (85.4)% for the first quarter of 2017. The non-GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the first quarter of 2018 was 20.4%, compared to 18.7% for the first quarter of 2017.
Cash flow – The company generated $495 million of operating cash flow from continuing operations and $337 million of free cash flow from continuing operations during the first quarter of 2018.
Stock repurchase program – The company repurchased approximately $1.0 billion of its common stock, or 24 million shares, in the first quarter of 2018. The company’s total repurchase authorization remaining as of March 31, 2018 was $6.6 billion.
Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments – The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $9.8 billion as of March 31, 2018.
Business Outlook
Second quarter 2018 – The company expects net revenue between $2.64 billion and $2.68 billion, representing FX-Neutral growth of 6% – 8%, with GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of $0.33 – $0.37 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of $0.50 – $0.52.
Full year 2018 – The company expects net revenue between $10.9 billion and $11.1 billion, representing FX-Neutral growth of 7% – 9%, with GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of $1.65 – $1.75 and non-GAAP earnings per diluted share from continuing operations in the range of $2.25 – $2.30.
Note: See full press release including tables in link below.
SOURCE: eBay Press Release
Ouch! Missed revenue targets by just $10 Million!
(in my best Maxwell Smart imatation)
“Missed it by THAT much!”
I think we have some insight and confirmation into the plethora of March $EBAY sitewide buyer coupons.
Maybe just one more would have nudged it over the line? (but hey, either way give the finance intern who hit the backspace key on the PowerPoint to round “$2.58B” to “$2.6B” a raise!)
Crossing fingers that June (or September) will be a great month to get the holiday shopping done with a new flurry of quarterly coupons!
Devin, don’t let us down bro, we need more 25-percent off flash coupons!
The amount of inventory that I’ve had listed on the site has dropped by about 45% in Q1. I never seem to get a boost from those coupons either, despite collectors on forums looking for what I sell.