The BusinessWeek 50 Ranking
19
eBay
After years of outrunning expectations, the online marketplace is slowing down. As eBay merchants increasingly diversify, selling on other online venues such as Amazon.com (AMZN) and Google (GOOG), sales growth is expected to ease to 31% this year, from 51% over the past 12 months. Profits, already under pressure from rising online ad rates, will be further squeezed by plans to spend more on expansion in China and on eBay's PayPal payment processing unit. Still, with 81% gross margins, the San Jose (Calif.) company remains the envy of e-commerce rivals.
Company Info
| 2004 Rank | 13 |
| STOCK INFO | EBAY |
| Market Value | $57.3 BILLION |
| Total Return | (1-yr.) 24.7%
(3-yr.) 229.2% |
| 2004 sales | $3.3 BILLION |
| Sales Growth | (1-yr.) 51%
(3-yr.) 64.9% |
| Net income | $778.2 MILLION |
| Net Income Growth | (1-yr.) 74%
(3-yr.) 102.2% |
| Net Margin* | 23.8% |
| Return on Equity* | 11.6% |
| Industry | RETAILING |
| CORPORATE WEB SITE | |
More in S&P 500 Companies Scoreboard >
*Trailing 12 months
Company data as of 2/28/05 provided by Standard & Poor's Compustat
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Company Snapshot
eBay, Inc., through its subsidiaries, develops an Internet-based marketplace for the sale of goods and services by individuals and small businesses. The company offers an online platform through which buyers and sellers browse, buy, and sell various items, including trading cards, antiques, dolls, and housewares, as well as used cars, clothing, books and compact disks, and electronics. The eBay online service permits sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest, and all eBay users to browse through listed items in an automated, topically-arranged service that is available online. It also offers online payment services. The company has Web sites directed toward the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Italy, Austria, Belgium, India, Australia, New Zealand, China, Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, and South Korea. eBay was founded by Pierre M. Omidyar in 1995. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.
No. of Employees
8,100
Data provided by 
