Ebay & Amazon Marketplace Numbers Are In And The Quarter Was Good

eBay Inc.

(Nasdaq: EBAY) today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2010. The e-commerce company posted first-quarter revenue of $2.2 billion, up 9% year over year, or up 18% excluding Skype. The increase was due to growth in the Payments and Marketplaces businesses, as well as a positive impact from foreign currency movements against the U.S. dollar. The company recorded net income on a GAAP basis of $397.7 million or $0.30 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $554.2 million or $0.42 per diluted share, for the first quarter of 2010.

GAAP operating margin increased to 22.2% for the quarter, compared to 20.9% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased slightly to 30.6% for the quarter, compared to 30.7% for the same period last year, as productivity gains were offset by faster growth in the company’s lower-margin PayPal business and lower take rates.

eBay Inc. generated $418.3 million of operating cash flow and $266.0 million of free cash flow during the first quarter. Operating cash flow and free cash flow were reduced by a one-time tax payment of $207.4 million related to a legal entity restructuring, as a result of which the company moved approximately $1.1 billion in cash to the U.S. in the fourth quarter of 2009.

“Our first quarter results reflect another strong step toward achieving our three-year growth and profitability goals,” said eBay Inc. President and CEO John Donahoe. “We are becoming a more customer-focused and technology-driven company, delivering more innovative products and experiences and driving operating efficiencies to reinvest in growth. We are improving the fundamentals of our business, strengthening eBay Marketplaces and aggressively growing PayPal to become the leader in global online payments.”

Amazon.com

Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

Operating cash flow was $2.78 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.76billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2009. Free cash flow increased 62% to $2.32 billion for the trailing twelve months, compared with $1.43 billion for the trailing twelve months ended March 31, 2009.

Common shares outstanding plus shares underlying stock-based awards totaled 463 million on March 31, 2010, compared with 447 million a year ago.

Net sales increased 46% to $7.13 billion in the first quarter, compared with $4.89 billion in first quarter 2009. Excluding the $185 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, net sales would have grown 42% compared with first quarter 2009.

Operating income increased 62% to $394 million in the first quarter, compared with $244 million in first quarter 2009. Excluding the $15 million favorable impact from year-over-year changes in foreign exchange rates throughout the quarter, operating income would have grown 56% compared with first quarter 2009.

Net income increased 68% to $299 million in the first quarter, or $0.66 per diluted share, compared with net income of $177 million, or $0.41 per diluted share, in first quarter 2009.

"We remain heads-down focused on customers," said Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon.com. "Amazon Prime has just celebrated its fifth anniversary, adoption of Amazon Web Services continues to accelerate, Kindle remains our #1 bestselling product, and earlier this week, Kindle selection reached 500,000 titles."