Auction site eBay continues to impress investors, thanks in large part to the ongoing success of PayPal.
Late Wednesday, eBay reported better-than-expected earnings and revenue for its latest quarter. And while the company issued slightly weaker guidance for the current quarter, its full-year outlook was rosier.
Shares of eBay (EBAY) rallied nearly 4% to a new 52-week high Thursday. The stock has been on a tear, soaring 41% over the past six months.
eBay credits the growing success of PayPal, which recorded a 250% surge in mobile payment volume in 2012 to nearly $14 billion as more consumers used mobile devices to satisfy their shopping appetites. In fact, PayPal ended the year with roughly 123 million registered accounts, up 15% year over year.
"Mobile continues to rewrite the commerce playbook, and we continue to be a mobile commerce and payments leader," said eBay CEO John Donahoe.
And StockTwits traders seem to agree.
Sejd213
$EBAY, this is what investors like to hear! Has resulted in 14 straight quarters of sales growth.PayPal's sales rose to $1.54 billion, Bullish
That's not necessarily a bad thing is it? eBay can't count on PayPal to be its only cash cow. In fact, the company's Marketplaces biz is gaining some nice traction, delivering a record revenue of $2 billion in the fourth quarter.
All of that is true but also keep in mind that the fourth quarter is holiday shopping season so it's not a huge surprise that there would be a spike in sales. I know I did 90% of my shopping online this year. But it does seem like eBay is doing a good job of staying in tune with consumers' fickle behavior.
Couldn't have put in simpler terms myself. The company really does seem like it's on a roll ... and investors want to get on that bandwagon.
Most people don't think of credit card companies as being warm and fuzzy but that's not stopping investors from buying.
Visa's stock hit a new 52-week high Tuesday and MasterCard is just shy of that mark for its stock.
It's been a long road.
Back in 2005, a group of merchants sued Visa (V), MasterCard (MA) and other credit card processors for allegedly conspiring to fix so-called swipe fees at unfairly high levels. MORE
Catherine Tymkiw - Nov 20, 2012 12:46 PM ET