EBay Reports Higher 4Q Earnings, Revenue

SAN JOSE (CBS/AP) - EBay said its net income grew in the fourth quarter, helped by a gain on the sale of its remaining investment in Skype and higher revenue.

The e-commerce and online payments company said Wednesday that it earned $1.98 billion, or $1.51 per share in the October-December quarter. That's up from $559 million, or 42 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue grew 35 percent to $3.38 billion from $2.5 billion.

Excluding special items, eBay Inc. said it earned 60 cents per share.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected earnings of 57 cents per share on revenue of $3.32 billion.

San Jose-based eBay is forecasting adjusted earnings of 50 cents to 51 cents per share in the first quarter. That's below Wall Street's expectations of 54 cents.

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