eBay releases fourth quarter and full year 2020 financial results, with total transaction volume reaching US$100 billion

On February 3, eBay released its fourth quarter and full year financial results ending December 31, 2020.

According to the financial report, eBay's total transaction volume in the fourth quarter of last year reached US$26.6 billion, a year-on-year increase of 21%, and an increase of 18% year-on-year excluding the impact of exchange rate changes. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased by 28% to US$2.9 billion. So far, eBay's full-year revenue in 2020 is US$10.3 billion, a year-on-year increase of 19%, and GMV has reached US$100 billion.

EBay said on Wednesday it would emerge "stronger" from the coronavirus crisis after its holiday season sales and profit beat expectations amid a pandemic-driven online shopping boom.

The health crisis caused by the global pandemic has forced millions of Americans to stay indoors, leading to a surge in online orders for e-commerce companies such as Amazon, eBay and Walmart, according to Reuters . In extended trading, eBay's stock rose nearly 10%.

eBay CEO Jamie Iannone said eBay is benefiting from new strategic decisions, such as launching authentic authentication services, to attract shoppers through fashion products including sneakers and watches. From the third quarter to the fourth quarter, the total transaction volume of eBay's luxury watch category achieved double-digit growth, and the sneaker category achieved triple-digit year-on-year growth in the fourth quarter.

Another major strategy is the launch of managed payment services. In the fourth quarter, eBay said that more than 38% of transactions on the global platform were processed through managed payments, of which more than 50% of US sellers have moved to managed payments. At the end of the fourth quarter, more than 1 million sellers around the world began to use its managed payment services.

In addition, eBay continued to expand its managed payment services globally this year, announcing the launch of managed payment services to sellers in Greater China, and will further support individual sellers in the United States, the United Kingdom and Germany to use managed payment services.

Meanwhile, eBay said its annual active shoppers grew 7 percent to 185 million active shoppers worldwide, with refurbished gifts becoming a major shopping trend during the holiday season. Many brands sold out on eBay’s new Certified Refurbished service.

“Our buyers were very active during the holiday season, with one in 10 online shoppers purchasing on eBay in the U.S., one in seven in Germany and one in four in the U.K.,” Iannone said on a call with analysts.

According to IBES data from Refinitiv, eBay's first-quarter revenue is expected to be between $2.94 billion and $2.99 ​​billion, higher than the expected $2.53 billion. In addition, eBay will increase its stock repurchase authorization by an additional $4 billion. Excluding special items, eBay's earnings per share were 86 cents, higher than the market's expected 83 cents per share.

In terms of advertising revenue, eBay's Promoted Listings service achieved revenue of more than US$215 million in the fourth quarter, a year-on-year increase of 60%. The total advertising revenue for the whole year exceeded US$1 billion, reaching a new milestone in 2020.

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