Q4 revenue of eBay dropped $145 million

Financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2008 were recently posted by the tech and auction giant eBay Inc. the fourth quarter revenue showed a significant decrease while PayPal, Classifieds, text and graphical advertising and Skype showed good performance with the growing revenue on a year-over-year basis.

The ecommerce leader posted Q4 revenue of $2.04 billion, representing a $145 million year-over-year decrease due primarily to the impact on eBay of a stronger dollar and macroeconomic conditions globally. Net income on a GAAP basis accounted for $367 million or $0.29 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income was $524 million or $0.41 per diluted share. For the full year eBay Inc. posted $8.54 billion in revenue, net income on a GAAP basis of $1.78 billion or $1.36 per diluted share, and non-GAAP net income of $2.24 billion or $1.71 per diluted share.

The report reveals that GAAP operating margin dropped to 22.3% for the quarter, from 28.7% for the same period last year. Non-GAAP operating margin reduced to 32.8% for the quarter, from 34.6% for the same period in 2008. For the full year, GAAP operating margin made up 24.3%, with non-GAAP operating margin at 32.1%. Operating cash flow for the fourth quarter accounted for $684 million with $525 million of free cash flow. For the full year the company recorded $2.88 billion of operating cash flow and free cash flow was $2.32 billion.