EBay Inc trimmed its full-year revenue forecast on Wednesday, signaling a weaker-than-expected holiday shopping season for the e-commerce company as it prepares to split from its fast-growing payments arm, PayPal.<\/p>\n
EBay’s report comes as weak economic data from the United States and China fan fears of a global slowdown, forcing investors to re-examine the world economy only just emerging from one of the worst recessions in history.<\/p>\n
“We’ve gotten indications from some luxury retailers over the last couple of days that times have been more challenging,” said Scott Kessler, equity analyst at S&P Capital IQ.<\/p>\n
“There are a lot of question marks when it comes to the sentiment on spending of consumers as we approach the holiday shopping season.”<\/p>\n
EBay shares fell more than 3 percent in after-hours trading.<\/p>\n
U.S. retail sales, which account for about one-third of consumer spending, recorded their first decline since January last month.<\/p>\n
Some analysts expressed concern over eBay’s marketplaces division, which grew less than some forecast.<\/p>\n
Kessler added that eBay’s notable exposure to Europe might have also played a role in depressing its outlook.<\/p>\n
EBay earned 68 cents per share in the third quarter, in line with the average analyst estimate of 67 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I\/B\/E\/S.<\/p>\n
The results comes weeks after eBay announced it was spinning off its PayPal payments unit in 2015.<\/p>\n
EBay cut its full-year revenue outlook to between $17.85 billion and $17.95 billion from its previous range of $18 billion to $18.3 billion.<\/p>\n
The company also forecast fourth-quarter revenue of less than $5 billion, falling short of the $5.2 billion expected by Wall Street. EBay expects fourth-quarter earnings per share between 88 cents and 91 cents, while Wall Street expected 91 cents.<\/p>\n
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