"Our fourth quarter results capped off an outstanding year," said Meg Whitman, President and CEO of eBay. "We have excellent momentum going into 2002 and feel confident with our long-term strategy, ongoing execution and the inherent strength of our business model." eBay released its Q4 2001 and fiscal year-end financial results yesterday, and shareholders had reason to cheer. eBay raised its sales forecast for the first half of this year and reaffirmed its first-half profit projection.

Q4 2001 Net Revenues

For the fourth quarter, eBay reported net revenues of $219.4 million, representing a 64% year-over-year increase. The sequential increase was driven largely by better-than-expected holiday sales in the U.S. online business, strong international growth, solid contributions from eBay Motors and eBay Payments by Billpoint, and continued success in the development of third-party advertising revenues.

Interesting Highlights

The largest categories in Q4 2001 were eBay Motors, computers, consumer electronics, collectibles, books/movies/music, sports and toys.

eBay's fixed price initiatives (Buy It Now, Half.com and eBay Stores) contributed more than 19% of total gross merchandise sales in Q4 2001.

eBay said its Buy It Now feature was offered as an option on 45% of eBay.com listings during the month of December.

eBay users transacted a record $2.735 billion in gross merchandise sales during the fourth quarter, representing a 69% year-over-year increase from the $1.616 billion reported in Q4 2000.

eBay hosted a record 126.5 million listings during the quarter, representing 59% year-over-year growth.

Gross merchandise sales processed using eBay Payments by Billpoint increased 14% sequentially and 263% year-over-year.