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SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) - Online auctioneer eBay Inc. Wednesday said earnings rose 36 percent rise in the fourth quarter, beating analysts' expectations, but its forecast that profit and sales for the year would fall short of estimates pushed shares down in late trade.
Net income for the period ended Dec. 31 was $279.2 million, or 20 cents a share, up from $205.4 million, or 15 cents a share, in the same quarter of 2004. Sales rose 42 percent to $1.33 billion from $935.8 million.
Profit excluding some costs in the current quarter will be 22 cents to 23 cents on sales of $1.37 billion to $1.38 billion, eBay said in a forecast unchanged from one it gave in October. That was below the mean estimate among analysts polled by Thomson Financial, which saw profit of 24 cents on revenue of $1.4 billion.
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