eBay and AT&T released their latest earnings reports after closing bell tonight. eBay reported non-GAAP earnings of 54 cents per share on $2.4 billion in sales, compared to the analyst estimates of 53 cents per share in earnings and $2.4 billion in revenue. In the previous year’s fourth quarter, the company reported adjusted earnings of 50 cents per share and $2.3 billion in revenue.
AT&T posted adjusted earnings of 66 cents per share on $41.8 billion in revenue, while the Street was looking for 66 cents per share in earnings and $42.04 billion in revenue. In the same quarter a year ago, the mobile carrier and internet service provider reported 63 cents per share in adjusted earnings and $42.12 billion in revenue.
eBay shares jump on strong results
eBay’s GAAP earnings jumped to $5.31 per share from 43 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. The sudden increase resulted from a $4.6 billion income tax benefit “related to a legal structure realignment.” There was also an $800 million gain from the sale of the company’s equity stake in MercadoLibre.
Total gross merchandise volume rose 5% on a currency-neutral basis to $22.3 billion. Marketplaces moved $21.1 billion in gross merchandise volume, boosting Marketplaces revenue by 4% year over year on a currency-neutral basis. eBay added 2 million active buyers to its platforms, bringing its total active buyers to 167 million across all its platforms.
For the first quarter, eBay expects net revenue to come in between $2.17 billion and $2.21 billion and non-GAAP earnings to come in between 46 cents and 48 cents per share.
Shares of eBay surged in after-hours trades, climbing by as much as 6.58% to $32.22.
AT&T’s per-share earnings fall
AT&T’s net income amounted to $2.4 billion or diluted earnings of 39 cents per share, compared to 65 cents per share in the previous year’s fourth quarter. The company added 2.8 million wireless customers during the fourth quarter, including 1.5 million in the U.S. and 1.3 million in Mexico. It added 1.1 million branded smartphones and reported its best-ever postpaid phone churn rate at 0.98%. The wireless postpaid churn rate stood at 1.16% in the fourth quarter. AT&T said it added more than 200,000 paying DIRECTV Now customers and 235,000 U.S. DIRECTV satellite TV customers. It also added 149,000 IP broadband customers.
For 2017, the company expects consolidated revenue growth to be in the low-single digits and adjusted earnings per share growth to be in the mid-single digits.
AT&T shares were little changed in after-hours trades, hovering around $41.40.
