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To: 16yearcycle who wrote (92068)	1/24/2000 7:48:00 PM
From: H James Morris	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 164684

Ek, since you told us that eBay is your single largest holding, I thought this might interest you. > San Jose, California, Jan. 24 (Bloomberg) -- The following is a summary of eBay Inc.'s fourth-quarter earnings, expected to be released Tuesday after the close of regular U.S. trading. Expected Earnings: EBay, the largest Internet auction site, is expected to report a profit of 2 cents a share before amortization and goodwill costs, the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. The company could earn 3 cents a share, according to the www.thewhispernumber.com Web site. The San Jose, California-based company reported net income of $1.5 million, or 4 cents a share, before a stock split in the year- ago quarter. It earned 7 cents before costs for amortization of stock-based pay and merger-related expenses. EBay had a 3-for-1 stock split in March. Sales are expected to more than triple to about $66.9 million from $19.5 million a year earlier, according to First Call. Analysts' estimates range from $59.1 million to $71 million. Expected Time: EBay will release its results at the close of U.S. trading on Tuesday. Behind the Numbers: EBay was the second most-visited Internet shopping site during the five-week Christmas shopping season ended Dec. 26, trailing Amazon.com Inc. The number of unique visitors to eBay rose 76 percent to 4.07 million, according to Media Metrix, which tracks Internet use. EBay has about 3.9 million items listed on its site. Analysts estimate its number of registered users rose to about 9 million at the end of 1999 from about 2.1 million a year earlier. The company has faced increased competition from auction sites operated by Amazon.com and Yahoo! Inc., as well as from FairMarket Inc., which operates a network that connects auction sites of various online portal companies and retailers. EBay had as much as 80 percent of U.S. online person-to- person auction listings at the start of 1999. Its share dropped to as low as 50 percent during the year, before stabilizing more recently at about 55 percent to 60 percent, said analyst Gregory Konezny of US Bancorp Piper Jaffray Co. EBay has been expanding internationally and increasing its listings of higher-priced goods. It now has 53 regional auction sites to help users trade hard-to-ship items that cost more money. In October, eBay introduced Great Collections, an auction site for high-end art, antiques and collectibles. Analyst John Segrich of CIBC World Markets Inc. said he expects gross merchandise sales, or the value of all goods sold on eBay, rose to about $900 million from $741 million in the third quarter. Gross margin, which measures gross profit as a percent of sales, is expected to be 71 percent to 72 percent, analysts said. It was 85 percent a year earlier, and 71 percent in the prior quarter. EBay warned last year that profit would be crimped by higher spending on its expansion and items such as computers and staff following outages at its site. What the Experts Say ``EBay is in user-acquisition mode,' said analyst Robert Fontana of Wachovia Securities, who rates eBay shares ``long-term buy.' ``People have to get used to doing business with people they don't know, so most dip their toe in the water and buy something for a small value at first.' Previous Market Reaction Shares of eBay fell 8.8 percent on Oct. 27, a day after it reported third-quarter profit that lagged some forecasts. Earnings were held back because of spending to beef up computer systems and customer support. EBay warned it would continue to invest heavily the next few quarters as it added new markets and products. Jan/24/2000 18:20