AHEAD OF THE BELL:
EBay seen posting stronger 2Q

[July 18, 2012]  NEW YORK (AP) -- EBay Inc. is expected to post higher earnings and revenue when it reports its second-quarter results on Wednesday after the market closes, helped by its fast-growing PayPal segment and its e-commerce business.

There has been ongoing concern that the uncertain global economy is hurting retailers, but Benchmark analyst Daniel Kurnos said in a recent note that brick-and-mortar retailers appear to be hurting more than online businesses such as eBay.

Baird's Colin Sebastian, meanwhile, said he is "positive" on the broader Internet sector's second-quarter results, and eBay is one of his two "top picks" (the other being Google Inc.). The analyst, who rates eBay "Outperform," thinks eBay will meet or slightly exceed the average analyst expectations for the quarter. He said growth in eBay's U.S. e-commerce business likely helped offset pressures from Europe.

EBay beat Wall Street's expectations in the first quarter, with earnings up 20 percent and revenue growing by nearly a third.

For the second quarter, analysts expect earnings of 55 cents per share on revenue of $3.36 billion, according to FactSet.

[Associated Press]

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