EBay's Q1 profit up 22%, beats estimates

Online auction house eBay Inc. on Wednesday reported a 22 percent boost in first quarter net income to $460 million, or 34 cents a share, compared to $377 million, or 27 cents a share in the same period last year.

The San Jose-based company's revenue rose to $2.19 billion, a 24 percent increase over the year-ago quarter's $2.07 billion.

"This was a very strong financial quarter for the company," said CEO John Donahoe, who took the reins March 31. "The results reflect the strength provided by our diverse portfolio of businesses."

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The company's gross margin dropped from 77.7 percent to 76 percent, reflecting growth of its lower-margin businesses such as PayPal and Skype.

At PayPal, revenue rose 32 percent to $582 million.

Excluding items, the company's income would have been $561.5 million, or 42 cents a share.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 39 cents a share on revenue of $2.07 billion.