eBay profit up 20 percent

(CBS/AP) (CBS/AP) NEW YORK - eBay Inc. (EBAY) says its first-quarter net income grew 20 percent thanks to higher revenue from its PayPal business and brisk sales at its e-commerce websites. The results beat Wall Street's expectations and investors sent the company's stock higher in after-hours trading.

EBay said Wednesday that it earned $570 million, or 44 cents per share, in the January-March period. That's up from $476 million, or 36 cents per share, a year ago.

Adjusted earnings of 55 cents per share beat Wall Street's estimates by 3 cents.

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Revenue grew 29 percent to $3.28 billion from $2.55 billion.

Analysts, on average, had expected lower revenue of $3.15 billion, according to FactSet.

The e-commerce and online payments company has been expanding into brick-and-mortar retailers recently to grow its business. It recently launched a service that lets people use their PayPal accounts to pay for merchandise in Home Depot stores, a program that will likely expand to other large retailers.

Last month, it unveiled a mobile payments service targeting merchants who don't already have full-fledged payment systems in place. Called PayPal Here, the service lets customers pay using credit cards, PayPal accounts or, in the U.S., personal checks using merchants' mobile phones.

"We believe that innovation in retail today is technology driven, and consumers are embracing smarter, easier, better ways to shop," said CEO John Donahoe in a statement.

Revenue at PayPal grew 32 percent from last year to $1.31 billion, while the number of active accounts increased 12 percent to 109.8 million.

The marketplaces business, which includes eBay's namesake website, grew its revenue by 11 percent to $1.73 billion.

EBay is forecasting adjusted earnings of 53 cents to 55 cents per share and revenue of $3.25 billion to $3.35 billion for the second quarter.

Analysts are expecting adjusted earnings of 55 cents and revenue of $3.42 billion.

San Jose, Calif.-based eBay's stock climbed $1.87, or 5.2 percent, to $37.74 in after-hours trading. The stock had closed down 21 cents at $35.87.