TheChek News Flow

eBay beats by $0.01, reports revs in-line; guides Q1 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; guides FY15 EPS below consensus, revs below consensus; plan to reduce workforce by 7%; will explore strategic options for eBay Enterprise; entered into a standstill agreement with Carl Icahn   (53.38 -0.30)

Reports Q4 (Dec) earnings of $0.90 per share, $0.01 better than the Capital IQ Consensus Estimate of $0.89; revenues rose 8.6% year/year to $4.92 bln vs the $4.93 bln consensus. 

Co issues downside guidance for Q1, sees EPS of $0.68-0.71, excluding non-recurring items, vs. $0.76 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees Q1 revs of $4.35-4.45 bln vs. $4.7 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. 

Co issues downside guidance for FY15, sees EPS of $3.05-3.15 vs. $3.26 Capital IQ Consensus Estimate; sees FY15 revs of 18.6-19.1 bln vs. $19.99 bln Capital IQ Consensus Estimate. 

Quick Metric Guide: 

• Payments: 
• • Net revenue: $2.16 bln vs $2.12 bln Briefing.com consensus
  • Net total payment volume (TPV): $64.30 bln vs 64.04 bln Briefing.com consensus
• Marketplaces: 
• • Net revenue: $2.33 bln vs $2.29 bln Briefing.com consensus
  • Gross merchandise volume (GMV): $21.85 bln vs $23.17 bln Briefing.com consensus
• Enterprise: 
• • Net revenue: $443 mln vs $395.93 mln Briefing.com consensus
  • Gross merchandise sales (GMS): $1.93 bln vs $1.98 bln Briefing.com consensus 

Ebay Strategic Alternatives: "During the first quarter, we plan to reduce our workforce globally by ~2,400 positions which a represents about 7% of our total workforce across eBay Marketplaces, PayPal, and eBay Enterprise. We will also be exploring strategic options for eBay Enterprise, including a sale or IPO. Enterprise is a strong business and a leading partner for large retailers, managing mission critical components of their e-commerce initiatives. However, it has become clear that it has limited synergies with either business and a separation will allow both to focus exclusively on their core markets, as we create two independent world class companies."

Co announced that it has entered into a standstill agreement with investor Carl Icahn, the company's largest active shareholder. In addition to certain corporate governance provisions to be adopted by PayPal as an independent company at the time of its spin-off from eBay Inc., the agreement also appoints Icahn Capital executive Jonathan Christodoro to eBay Inc.'s current Board of Directors.