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Alexkid

EBay holiday forecast disappoints investors
RACHEL METZ
(The Associated Press)



06:56:07AM (DST) Thursday,October 20.2011.

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — EBay left investors unimpressed with its predictions for the holiday season even as its namesake site and PayPal online payment service showed healthy growth in the latest quarter.

The company's stock fell more than 4 percent even though eBay said net income grew 14 percent in the third quarter — thanks partly to consumers shopping and transferring funds using the company's smartphone and tablet apps.

In a conference call with analysts, CEO John Donahoe said the company is looking for an "OK to solid" holiday season. EBay did well during the holidays over the past two years despite the weak economy. Its tempered expectations could signal a generally not-so-jolly holiday season on the horizon for all types of retailers.

For the July-September quarter, eBay said earned $491 million, or 37 cents per share. This compares with $432 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding special items, the company earned 48 cents per share, which is what analysts polled by FactSet were expecting.

Revenue increased 32 percent to $3 billion, beating analyst expectations for $2.9 billion.

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Investors think more of a higher expectations or what ?
Do they think EBay's predictions too conservative ?
Don't see anything wrong...

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