eBay estimates have (going, going) gone up

Online auctioneer eBay has raised estimates for its fourth quarter on the back of strong third quarter results, but said it will tread cautiously for the rest of the year.

Defying the current downturn, eBay reported a 71 per cent rise in revenue to $194.4m - up from $113.4m in the third quarter last year.

Pro forma profit was $34.9m, or 12 cents per share - beating analysts' predictions of 11 cents per share.

Net income for the quarter rose to $18.8m or seven cents per share - up from $15.2m or six cents per share.

Unlike some competitors such as Yahoo!, eBay has looked beyond advertising to make money, taking much of its revenue from listing fees and sales commissions.

While fourth quarter forecasts continue to be upbeat the company warned it had lost $5m in business following last month's terrorist attacks and said sales are still recovering.

In the next quarter eBay expects to post pro forma profit of 11 to 12 cents per share - two cents above earlier forecasts - and revenue of $200m to $210m, about $5m above earlier estimates.