Ebay Inc (EBAY), reported fourth quarter numbers after the closing bell today. Earnings Per Share came in-line with the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.71, and Revenues met the Zacks Consensus Estimate expectations of $4.5 billion.
The major areas of interest for the street were the Payments (PayPal), and Marketplaces (The Plaza and auction site) divisions. Most importantly, were the growth levels of PayPal, and how the Marketplace was performing overall. But those items were brushed aside with the announcement that Carl Icahn was building a large position in Ebay. Currently, it is reported that Mr. Icahn holds around 10 million shares, or 0.82% of total shares outstanding.
Mr. Icahn, like he did with Apple (AAPL), has quickly nominated 2 new board members to the Board of Directors, but more importantly he has issued a non-binding proposal to split the company into two separate businesses; PayPal as one, and the Marketplace as another standalone company. This news has sent shockwaves through the company, and the street as well. The company briefly commented on Mr. Icahn’s proposal by stating that the company continues to explore business opportunities, but currently does not plan on splitting the company up into multiple new companies.
Overall, the positives were strong, the PayPal growth levels were within analyst’s expectations, and the Marketplace came in-line with analyst’s expectations. Moreover, the company announced a 5 billion share buyback program. But, management did lower their Q1 2014 guidance from $0.72 to between $0.65 and $0.67.
In afterhours trading Ebay has jumped up over 8% indicating that the street is hyper excited about Mr. Icaha’s foray into Ebay. Zacks will have a fully detailed report into Ebay’s earnings numbers tomorrow.
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