By Liz Moyer
Investing.com -- eBay Inc (NASDAQ:EBAY) and PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL) both jumped on Thursday after positive earnings reports that showed how consumer habits changed during the pandemic.
Online auction site eBay said sales soared 28%, and EPS of 86 cents beat the 82-cent consensus of analysts. Gross merchandise volume surged 21%, to $26.6 billion with 185 million active buyers by the end of the fourth quarter.
Shares were up 5.7% to a new 52-week high. Jamie Iannone, eBay's CEO, said: "What inspires me most is the support we've been able to extend to small businesses -- providing them with tools, resources and access to millions of buyers globally. We will continue to invest in product and technology in order to deliver the best marketplace in the world for our customers."
Mobile payments firm PayPal also touched a new 52-week high on Thursday, up early 5%, after reporting that profit tripled in the quarter.
The company reported earnings per share of $1.32 per share, up from 43 cents reported at the end of 2019.