{Earnings Roundup} {EBay's profit up 22%, but shares fall after hours on disappointing forecast}
EBay Inc. said Wednesday that its second-quarter profit jumped 22%, as the online auction company enjoyed strong growth in its e-commerce sites and its PayPal payments service.
But EBay's outlook for the current quarter was softer than analysts had been forecasting, and the auction company's shares fell more than 6% in after-hours trading. The stock had gained $1.21, or 4.5%, in regular trading to $28.10.
The San Jose company reported earnings of $460 million, or 35 cents a share, compared with $376 million, or 27 cents, a year earlier. Excluding certain items, EBay earned 43 cents a share.
That beat Wall Street's forecast for 41 cents.
EBay's revenue rose 20% to $2.20 billion. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had been looking for $2.17 billion in revenue.
Revenue from EBay's marketplaces segment, which includes EBay, Shopping.com, StubHub and other e-commerce websites, increased 13% to $1.46 billion.
Sharper growth came from PayPal, whose revenue rose 32% to $602 million. Revenue from its online telecommunications service, Skype, rose 51% to $130 million.
Listings on EBay's site climbed 19% to 667 million during the quarter, but the company's number of active users -- an important measure of how well the company is attracting new buyers and sellers -- rose only 1.4% to 84.5 million.
EBay expects third-quarter earnings of 30 cents to 32 cents a share, or 39 cents to 41 cents a share on an adjusted basis, and $2.10 billion to $2.15 billion in revenue.
Analysts were expecting better: adjusted earnings of 41 cents a share on $2.18 billion in revenue.
Sales in China lift Yum Brands
Yum Brands Inc., owner of the Pizza Hut, Taco Bell and KFC chains, said second-quarter profit rose 4.7% on higher sales in China.
Net income increased to $224 million, or 45 cents a share, from $214 million, or 39 cents, a year earlier, the Louisville, Ky., company said. Sales rose 12% to $2.7 billion.
But shares of Yum fell almost $2, or more than 5%, in after-hours trading amid concerns that rising food costs would hurt margins. Before the announcement, the shares rose $1.01, or 2.9%, to $36.47.
Humira boosts Abbott's results
Abbott Laboratories' second-quarter profit rose 34% as its top-selling product, anti-inflammatory medicine Humira, was approved for new uses.
