Online auction giant eBay reported that first-quarter profit surged 52%, trouncing Wall Street expectations thanks to big-spending shoppers overseas and scorching performance of its PayPal electronic transaction division, an Associated Press report said.
The Associated Press report said despite lackluster growth in the total number of listings on the world's largest online auction, eBay earned $377.2 million for the three months ended March 31.
It earned $248.3 million in the year-ago period, the report said.
First-quarter revenue totaled $1.77 billion, up 27% from $1.39 billion a year ago, it added.
Excluding charges unrelated to ongoing operations, eBay earned $460.5 million up 34% from the same quarter last year, when eBay earned $342.9 million, the report said.
On that basis, which does not comply with generally accepted accounting principles, eBay was expected to earn $408.72 million on sales of $1.72 billion, according to analysts polled by Thomson Financial, the report further said.
The company expects second-quarter revenue in the range of $1.75 billion to $1.8 billion.
For the full year, eBay expects revenue of $7.2 billion to $7.45 billion, the report said.