eBay not bidding on positive fourth quarter

Online auction giant eBay lowered its fourth-quarter revenue expectations and reported third-quarter numbers that met analyst forecasts.

Company executives said Wednesday that it expected fourth-quarter profit to come in between 25 cents to 27 cents per share, compared with the 39 cents it reported during the same period in 2007.

For the third quarter, eBay's earnings came in at the low end of Wall Street expectations with revenues of $2.12bn, up $228m from the third quarter of 2007. Net profit was $492m, or 38 cents per share. Analysts predicted that eBay's earnings for the quarter would be between $2.1bn and $2.15bn.

The company's shares fell 13.6 per cent, or $2.41, to close trading Wednesday at $15.33. In after hours, shares of eBay were trading at 14.22, down $1.11 or seven per cent. The markets, however, suffered another bloodbath and eBay was in no way the only tech stock that was punished.

The Nasdaq fell 247.45 points or 6.8 per cent. Shares of Apple dropped more than five percent to close at $97.95, and eBay rival Amazon finished the day at $48.72, down 12 per cent. Microsoft shares fell nearly six percent to $22.66.

eBay warned last week that the ailing economy was hampering efforts to spur growth in auctions. The company also told investors that it was planning a 10 per cent staff reduction.

Original article: eBay issues gloomy forecast as tech stocks tank again from CNET News.com