eBay Reports Better Than Expected First Quarter 2022 Results

eBay a global commerce leader that connects millions of buyers and sellers around the world, today reported financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2022.

“Our team has delivered another strong quarter, at the high end of our expectations,” said Jamie Iannone, Chief Executive Officer of eBay. “Despite the current macro headwinds, we remain confident in the long-term strategy we laid out during our Investor Day in March. We are building an eBay for the future with an eye toward delivering long-term, sustainable growth. Our enthusiast buyers continue to shop and engage on eBay regularly, and our results to date demonstrate our focus category playbook is working.”

First Quarter Financial Highlights

• Revenue was $2.5 billion, down 6% on an as-reported basis and down 5% on a foreign exchange (FX) neutral basis.
• Gross merchandise volume (GMV) was $19.4 billion, down 20% on an as-reported basis and down 17% on an FX-Neutral basis.
• GAAP net loss from continuing operations was $1.3 billion, or $(2.28) per diluted share primarily driven by the change in fair value of our equity investments.
• Non-GAAP net income from continuing operations was $625 million, or $1.05 per diluted share.
• GAAP and Non-GAAP operating margin of 27.9% and 32.4%, respectively.
• Generated $629 million of operating cash flow and $546 million of free cash flow from continuing operations.
• Sold a portion of our shares in Adyen for $551 million.
• Returned $1.4 billion to shareholders, including $1.3 billion of share repurchases and $129 million paid in cash dividends.

Business Highlights

Revenue Initiatives

• eBay announced an agreement with Klarna to enable invoice and installment payment methods to buyers in Germany. The company began testing the new features with customers during the first quarter and expects to make it available to all German buyers in the second quarter.
• eBay launched its new digital wallet where customers can use proceeds from their sales to conveniently purchase their next item or pay their selling expenses.
• Promoted Listings delivered $222 million of revenue in the first quarter, down 1% on an as-reported basis and up 2% on an FX-Neutral basis.
• The company’s total advertising offerings generated approximately $267 million in revenue in the first quarter, representing roughly 1.4% of GMV.

Tech-Led Reimagination of the Platform

• In April, eBay announced the appointment of Eddie Garcia as Chief Product Officer.
• During the quarter, eBay launched its Authenticity Guarantee service for trading cards sold for $750+ in the U.S. With this addition, the company now offers authentication in four key enthusiast collector categories, including sneakers, watches, handbags and trading cards.
• eBay expanded its authentication of luxury handbags to the U.K. and Australia. The company also expanded the number of brands covered by Authenticity Guarantee and began authenticating men’s bags in the U.S.
• eBay continued to see great traction in its luxury watch category, with high customer satisfaction leading to positive double-digit growth. Building on its current authentication service for watches over $2,000, eBay added the ability for buyers to request, for a fee, expert verification for watches valued between $1,000 and $2,000.
• In January, eBay reintroduced final value fees for sneakers over $100 in the U.S. and growth momentum and high customer satisfaction continued. In eBay’s international markets, sneaker GMV also grew significantly faster than the rest of the business.
• The company continued to invest in full-funnel marketing for Parts & Accessories, including partnerships with leading influencers and enthusiasts to showcase eBay’s vast inventory selection, and has started to see modest gains in initial consideration.
• The company expanded its eBay Refurbished program to smartwatches, tablets, laptops and desktops from vetted sellers across major markets. eBay also launched the program in France and Italy.
• The company announced the eBay Vault, a 31-thousand square foot, secure storage facility and digital marketplace for trading cards and collectibles, with plans to expand into luxury goods. The eBay Vault will provide peace of mind and convenience for the company’s millions of buyers and sellers, and within a few years, eBay expects the Vault will hold up to $3 billion in assets, making it one of the largest stores of non-governmental assets in the world.
• eBay made significant changes towards modernizing its Stores experience, including a new storefront that provides sellers the ability to tell their story, showcase their brand and increase trust in their business. The company also optimized SEO for Stores to drive more free traffic, increased the prominence of Store inventory and made it easier for enthusiasts to find Stores throughout the buyer journey.
• To further support sellers and help them grow their buyer base, eBay more frequently encourages buyers to save sellers for future purchases. To date, this has driven an increase in the number of saved sellers by four times.
• The company launched a new eBay app messaging experience to better connect sellers to their buyers, improve the way sellers communicate and make it easier to manage messages.
• To reduce friction on cross-border transactions, in Q1 eBay enabled a new feature to give buyers the option to pay in their local currency in addition to the currency of the listing.

Impact

• In support of Ukraine, eBay is waiving Ukrainian seller fees, protecting sellers from late shipment penalties and negative feedback, and matching employee donations to organizations supporting Ukraine. In the U.S., U.K., Canada and Australia, the company also launched a “Give at Checkout” campaign where customers can support Ukraine relief organizations.
• The eBay Foundation committed $11 million in grants to nonprofit organizations during the first quarter, furthering its mission to remove systemic barriers to entrepreneurship. In addition, over $2.4 million was raised in March from employee contributions and eBay Foundation matching gifts, many of which went to support Ukrainian relief efforts.
• eBay for Charity contributed over $36 million globally during the quarter, up 2% year-over-year.
• In recognition of the company’s ESG efforts, eBay was named to JUST Capital’s “The Just 100 List” in January, which evaluates companies for its efforts to combat climate change, diversity, equity and inclusion, employee wellness, local job creation and customer privacy.
• In January, eBay was also honored with a 2022 Employees’ Choice Award by Glassdoor, recognizing it as a best place to work among U.S. companies with more than 1,000 employees.

First Quarter 2022 Financial Highlights (presented in millions, except per share data and percentages)
	First Quarter
	2022	2021	Change
eBay Inc.
Net revenues	$    2,483	$    2,638	$      (155)	(6)%
GAAP – Continuing Operations
Income (loss) from continuing operations	$   (1,339)	$       568	$   (1,907)	**
Earnings (loss) per diluted share from continuing operations	$     (2.28)	$      0.82	$     (3.10)	**
Non-GAAP – Continuing Operations
Net income	$       625	$       748	$      (123)	(16)%
Earnings per diluted share	$      1.05	$      1.08	$     (0.03)	(2)%
**  Not meaningful

Other Selected Financial and Operational Results

• Operating margin – GAAP operating margin decreased to 27.9% for the first quarter of 2022, compared to 31.9% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin decreased to 32.4% in the first quarter of 2022, compared to 37.3% for the same period last year.
• Taxes – The GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the first quarter of 2022 was 18.8%, compared to 21.6% for the first quarter of 2021. The non-GAAP effective tax rate for continuing operations for the first quarter of 2022 was 16.5%⁽¹⁾.
• Cash flow – The company generated $629 million of operating cash flow and $546 million of free cash flow from continuing operations during the first quarter of 2022.
• Capital returns – The company repurchased approximately $1.25 billion of its common stock, or approximately 22 million shares, in the first quarter of 2022. The company’s total repurchase authorization remaining as of March 31, 2022 was $4.7 billion. The company also paid cash dividends of $129 million during the first quarter of 2022.
• Cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments – The company’s cash and cash equivalents and non-equity investments portfolio totaled $6.3 billion as of March 31, 2022.

Business Outlook

eBay is providing the following guidance for continuing operations for the second quarter and full year 2022.

In billions, except per share data and percentages	Q2 2022 Guidance	Full Year 2022 Guidance
Revenue	$2.35 – $2.40	$9.6 – $9.9
Organic FX-Neutral Y/Y Growth	(9)% – (7)%	(6)% – (3)%
Diluted GAAP EPS	$0.61 – $0.65	$(0.25) – $(0.05)
Diluted Non-GAAP EPS	$0.87 – $0.91	$3.90 – $4.10

Dividend Declaration

• eBay’s Board of Directors has declared a cash dividend of $0.22 per share of the company’s common stock. The dividend is payable on June 17, 2022 to stockholders of record as of June 1, 2022.

⁽¹⁾ We use a non-GAAP tax rate for evaluating our operating results. Based on our current long-term projections, we are using a non-GAAP tax rate of 16.5%. This non-GAAP tax rate could change for various reasons including significant changes in our geographic earnings mix or fundamental tax law changes in major jurisdictions in which we operate. 

Quarterly Conference Call and Webcast

eBay Inc. will host a conference call to discuss first quarter 2022 results at 2:30 p.m. Pacific Time today. Investors and participants can access the call by dialing (833) 350-1438 in the U.S. and (647) 689-6641 internationally. The passcode for the conference line is 9580075. A live webcast of the conference call, together with a slide presentation that includes supplemental financial information and reconciliations of certain non-GAAP measures to their nearest comparable GAAP measures, can be accessed through the company’s Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com. In addition, an archive of the webcast will be accessible for at least three months through the same link.

eBay Inc. uses its Investor Relations website at https://investors.ebayinc.com as a means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD. Accordingly, investors should monitor this website, in addition to following our press releases, SEC filings, public conference calls and webcasts.