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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
---------------------
FORM 10-Q
[X] QUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
FOR THE QUARTERLY PERIOD ENDED JUNE 30, 2001.
OR
[ ] TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES
EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 FOR THE TRANSITION PERIOD FROM______ TO _______.
COMMISSION FILE NUMBER 000-24821
EBAY INC.
(EXACT NAME OF REGISTRANT AS SPECIFIED IN ITS CHARTER)
DELAWARE 77-0430924
(STATE OR OTHER JURISDICTION OF (I.R.S. EMPLOYER
INCORPORATION OR ORGANIZATION) IDENTIFICATION NUMBER)
2145 HAMILTON AVENUE
SAN JOSE, CALIFORNIA 95125
(ADDRESS OF PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICES) (ZIP CODE)
(408) 558-7400
(REGISTRANT'S TELEPHONE NUMBER, INCLUDING AREA CODE)
---------------------
Check whether the registrant: (1) filed all reports required to be filed
by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Exchange Act during the past 12 months (or for
such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and
(2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.
Yes [X] No[ ]
As of July 31, 2001, there were 273,268,029 shares of the Registrant's
common stock, $0.001 par value, outstanding, which is the only class of common
or voting stock of the Registrant issued as of that date.
2
PART I: FINANCIAL INFORMATION
ITEM 1: FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
EBAY INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
(IN THOUSANDS)
(UNAUDITED)
DECEMBER 31, JUNE 30,
2000 2001
------------ -----------
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents ................................................ $ 201,873 $ 439,765
Short-term investments ................................................... 354,166 246,473
Accounts receivable, net ................................................. 67,163 103,717
Other current assets ..................................................... 52,262 62,654
----------- -----------
Total current assets .............................................. 675,464 852,609
Long-term investments ........................................................... 218,197 107,571
Restricted cash and investments ................................................. 126,390 129,467
Property and equipment, net ..................................................... 125,161 141,747
Intangible assets, net .......................................................... 13,063 213,415
Deferred tax assets ............................................................. 13,892 9,843
Other assets .................................................................... 10,236 21,005
----------- -----------
Total assets .................................................. $ 1,182,403 $ 1,475,657
=========== ===========
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable ......................................................... $ 31,725 $ 40,111
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities ........................... 66,697 93,264
Deferred revenue and customer advances ................................... 12,656 18,123
Short-term debt .......................................................... 15,272 15,141
Income taxes payable ..................................................... 11,092 10,945
----------- -----------
Total current liabilities ......................................... 137,442 177,584
Long term debt .................................................................. 11,404 11,337
Other liabilities ............................................................... 6,549 14,119
Minority interests .............................................................. 13,248 44,133
----------- -----------
Total liabilities ................................................. 168,643 247,173
----------- -----------
Contingencies (Note 7)
Stockholders' equity:
Common stock ............................................................. 269 273
Additional paid-in capital ............................................... 941,285 1,120,010
Unearned stock-based compensation ........................................ (1,423) (4,200)
Retained earnings ........................................................ 74,504 119,109
Accumulated other comprehensive loss ..................................... (875) (6,708)
----------- -----------
Total stockholders' equity ........................................ 1,013,760 1,228,484
----------- -----------
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity .................... $ 1,182,403 $ 1,475,657
=========== ===========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these condensed consolidated financial statements.
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EBAY INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF INCOME
(IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE AMOUNTS)
(UNAUDITED)
THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
---------------------------- -------------------------
2000 2001 2000 2001
---------- ----------- --------- ---------
Net revenues .................................... $ 98,152 $ 180,905 $ 184,039 $ 334,995
Cost of net revenues ............................ 24,204 32,872 47,587 59,874
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Gross profit ............................. 73,948 148,033 136,452 275,121
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Operating expenses:
Sales and marketing ...................... 37,093 60,117 76,591 115,653
Product development ...................... 13,600 17,651 25,938 33,388
General and administrative ............... 20,610 25,604 37,626 46,932
Payroll tax on employee stock options .... 834 385 1,735 812
Amortization of acquired intangible assets 340 8,822 615 12,177
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Total operating expenses .......... 72,477 112,579 142,505 208,962
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Income (loss) from operations ................... 1,471 35,454 (6,053) 66,159
Interest and other income and expense, net ...... 11,432 10,147 22,554 25,125
Interest expense ................................ (1,038) (959) (1,884) (1,671)
Impairment of certain equity investments ........ -- -- -- (9,921)
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Income before income taxes and minority interests 11,865 44,642 14,617 79,692
Provision for income taxes ...................... (5,401) (21,276) (6,675) (36,703)
Minority interests in consolidated companies .... 995 1,242 1,275 2,686
--------- --------- --------- ---------
Net income ...................................... $ 7,459 $ 24,608 $ 9,217 $ 45,675
========= ========= ========= =========
Net income per share:
Basic .................................... $ 0.03 $ 0.09 $ 0.04 $ 0.17
========= ========= ========= =========
Diluted .................................. $ 0.03 $ 0.09 $ 0.03 $ 0.16
========= ========= ========= =========
Weighted average shares:
Basic .................................... 249,828 267,075 246,229 264,962
========= ========= ========= =========
Diluted .................................. 280,483 283,582 280,867 281,145
========= ========= ========= =========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these condensed consolidated financial statements.
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EBAY INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
(IN THOUSANDS)
(UNAUDITED)
THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
--------------------------- -------------------------
2000 2001 2000 2001
---------- --------- --------- ---------
Net income ......................................................... $ 7,459 $ 24,608 $ 9,217 $ 45,675
-------- --------- --------- ---------
Other comprehensive income (loss):
Foreign currency translation .................................. (1,074) 161 (440) (5,090)
Unrealized gains (losses) on investments, net ................. (7,955) (669) (8,811) 2,026
Reclassification of realized gains (losses) on investments, net -- (16) -- 2,385
Gains (losses) on cash flow hedges ............................ -- 1,037 -- (1,271)
Tax benefit (provision) ....................................... 3,341 (62) 3,701 (1,256)
-------- --------- --------- ---------
Net change in other comprehensive income (loss) .................... (5,688) 451 (5,550) (3,206)
-------- --------- --------- ---------
Comprehensive income before cumulative effect of a change in
accounting principle ............................................ 1,771 25,059 3,667 42,469
Cumulative effect of a change in accounting principle, net of tax .. -- -- -- (2,627)
-------- --------- -------- --------
Comprehensive income ............................................... $ 1,771 $ 25,059 $ 3,667 $ 39,842
======== ======== ======== ========
The accompanying notes are an integral part
of these condensed consolidated financial statements.
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EBAY INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENT OF CASH FLOWS
(IN THOUSANDS)
(UNAUDITED)
SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
-------------------------
2000 2001
--------- --------
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income ............................................................................... $ 9,217 $ 45,675
Adjustments:
Provision for doubtful accounts and authorized credits ............................... 8,005 12,574
Depreciation and amortization ........................................................ 17,518 37,032
Amortization of unearned stock-based compensation .................................... 3,359 1,508
Tax benefit on the exercise of employee stock options ................................ 12,946 34,638
Impairment of certain equity investments ............................................. -- 9,921
Minority interests and other ......................................................... (754) (4,667)
Changes in assets and liabilities:
Accounts receivable .............................................................. (12,649) (39,742)
Other current assets ............................................................. (17,380) 307
Intangible and other assets ...................................................... 4,482 (4,097)
Deferred tax assets .............................................................. (4,976) 2,041
Accounts payable ................................................................. (2,768) 2,866
Accrued expenses and other liabilities ........................................... 16,726 4,790
Deferred revenue and customer advances ........................................... 2,038 4,256
Income taxes payable ............................................................. (377) (147)
--------- ---------
Net cash provided by operating activities .................................................. 35,387 106,955
--------- ---------
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment................................................... (30,038) (29,061)
Purchases of investments ............................................................. (304,183) (168,480)
Maturities and sales of investments .................................................. 147,048 437,516
Purchases of other non-current assets................................................. -- (2,065)
Proceeds from sale of property and equipment ......................................... -- 4,560
Acquisitions, net of cash acquired ................................................... -- (111,012)
--------- ---------
Net cash provided by (used in) in investing activities ..................................... (187,173) 131,458
--------- ---------
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of common stock, net .......................................... 39,469 22,866
Proceeds from issuance of common stock by subsidiaries ............................... 37,736 --
Principal payments on long-term debt ................................................. (3,856) (21,780)
--------- ---------
Net cash provided by financing activities .................................................. 73,349 1,086
--------- ---------
Effect of exchange rate changes on cash and cash equivalents ............................... (440) (1,607)
--------- ---------
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents ....................................... (78,877) 237,892
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period ........................................... 221,801 201,873
--------- ---------
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period ................................................. $ 142,924 $ 439,765
========= =========
The accompanying notes are an integral part of
these condensed consolidated financial statements.
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(UNAUDITED)
NOTE 1--THE COMPANY AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES:
The Company
eBay Inc. ("eBay") was incorporated in California in May 1996, and
reincorporated in Delaware in April 1998. As of June 30, 2001, eBay had
operations in the United States, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada,
France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Portugal,
South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. eBay pioneered
online trading by developing a Web-based community in which buyers and sellers
are brought together to buy and sell almost anything. The eBay online service
permits sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of interest and
all eBay users to browse through listed items in a fully-automated, topically-
arranged service that is available online seven days a week. eBay has extended
its online offerings to include regional and international trading, autos,
"premium" priced items and through Half.com, eBay Stores and our "Buy it Now"
features, now offers fixed-price functionality. eBay also engages in the
traditional auction business through its subsidiaries, Butterfields Auctioneers
Corporation ("Butterfields") and Kruse International ("Kruse") and in online
payment processing through its Billpoint, Inc. ("Billpoint") subsidiary.
Use of estimates
The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with
generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates
and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and
disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated
financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during
the reporting period. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Basis of presentation
The accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements as of
December 31, 2000 and June 30, 2001, and for the three and the six months ended
June 30, 2000 and 2001, are unaudited. The unaudited interim condensed
consolidated financial statements have been prepared on the same basis as the
annual consolidated financial statements and, in the opinion of management,
reflect all adjustments, which include only normal recurring adjustments,
necessary to present fairly eBay's financial position, as of June 30, 2001, the
results of operations for the three and the six months ended June 30, 2000 and
2001, and cash flows for the six months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001. These
condensed consolidated financial statements and notes thereto should be read in
conjunction with eBay's audited consolidated financial statements and related
notes included in eBay's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December
31, 2000 as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on March 28, 2001.
The results for interim periods are not necessarily indicative of the expected
results for any other interim period or the year ending December 31, 2001.
Principles of consolidation
The accompanying condensed financial statements include the financial
statements of eBay and its majority owned subsidiaries. All significant
intercompany balances and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Reclassifications
Certain prior period balances have been reclassified to conform to the
current period presentation.
5
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
Derivative instruments
Financial Accounting Standards Board Statement No. 133, Accounting for
Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities ("SFAS No. 133"), as amended,
requires companies to recognize all of their derivative instruments as either
assets or liabilities at fair value in the statement of financial position. The
accounting for changes in the fair value (i.e., gains or losses) of a derivative
instrument depends on whether it has been designated and qualifies as part of a
hedging relationship and further, on the type of hedging relationship. For those
derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as hedging instruments, a
company must designate the hedging instrument, based upon the exposure being
hedged, as either a fair value hedge, cash flow hedge or a hedge of a net
investment in a foreign operation.
For derivative instruments that are designated and qualify as a cash flow
hedge (i.e., hedging the exposure to variability in expected future cash flows
that is attributable to a particular risk), the effective portion of the gain or
loss on the derivative instrument is reported as a component of other
comprehensive income and reclassified into earnings in the same period or
periods during which the hedged transaction affects earnings. The remaining gain
or loss on the derivative instrument in excess of the cumulative change in the
present value of future cash flows of the hedged item, if any, is recognized in
current earnings during the period of change. For derivative instruments not
designated as hedging instruments, the gain or loss is recognized in current
earnings during the period of change.
Recent accounting pronouncements
In March 2000, the Emerging Issues Task Force ("EITF") reached a
consensus on EITF Issue No. 00-14, "Accounting for Certain Sales Incentives."
This consensus provides guidance on the recognition, measurement, and income
statement classification of sales incentives which are offered voluntarily by a
vendor without charge to customers that can be used in, or that are exercisable
by a customer as a result of, a single exchange transaction. At the April 2001
meeting, the EITF reached a consensus to defer the effective date to quarters
beginning after December 15, 2001. eBay believes that implementation of EITF No.
00-14 will not have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.
In July 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No.
141, "Business Combinations," that requires business combinations initiated
after June 30, 2001, to be accounted for using the purchase method of accounting
and broadens the criteria for recording intangible assets separate from
goodwill. Recorded goodwill and intangible assets will have to be evaluated
against these new criteria and may result in certain intangible assets being
subsumed into goodwill, or alternatively, amounts initially recorded as goodwill
may be separately identified and recognized apart from goodwill. The adoption of
SFAS No. 141 will not change the method of accounting used in previous business
combinations accounted for under the pooling-of-interest method.
In July 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued and SFAS
No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets," that requires the use of a
non-amortization approach to account for purchased goodwill and certain
intangible assets. Under a non-amortization approach, goodwill and certain
intangible assets will not be amortized into results of operations, but instead
would be reviewed for impairment and written down and charged to results of
operations only in the periods in which the recorded value of goodwill and
certain intangible assets exceed their fair values. This Statement is effective
for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2001. eBay is currently evaluating
the effect that adoption of this Statement will have on its results of
operations and financial position. eBay will adopt SFAS No. 142 effective
January 1, 2002, which will result in the elimination of goodwill amortization.
6
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
NOTE 2--NET INCOME PER SHARE:
Basic net income per share is computed by dividing the net income
available to common stockholders for the period by the weighted average number
of common shares outstanding during the period. Diluted net income per share is
computed by dividing the net income for the period by the weighted average
number of common and potential common shares outstanding during the period.
Potential common shares, composed of unvested, restricted common stock and
incremental common shares issuable upon the exercise of stock options and
warrants, are included in the calculation of diluted net income per share to the
extent such shares are dilutive.
The following table sets forth the computation of basic and diluted net
income per share for the periods indicated (in thousands, except per share
amounts):
THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30, SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
--------------------------- -------------------------
2000 2001 2000 2001
------------ ------------ ---------- ----------
Numerator:
Net income available to common stockholders .................... $ 7,459 $ 24,608 $ 9,217 $ 45,675
========= ======== ======== ========
Denominator:
Weighted average shares ........................................ 267,630 271,044 266,297 269,999
Weighted average common shares subject to repurchase ........... (17,802) (3,969) (20,068) (5,037)
--------- -------- -------- --------
Denominator for basic calculation .............................. 249,828 267,075 246,229 264,962
Weighted average effect of dilutive securities:
Warrants ....................................................... 94 94 94 94
Weighted average common shares subject to repurchase............ 17,802 3,969 20,068 5,037
Incremental shares from employee stock options ................. 12,759 12,444 14,476 11,052
--------- -------- -------- --------
Denominator for diluted calculation ............................ 280,483 283,582 280,867 281,145
========= ======== ======== ========
Net income per share:
Basic .......................................................... $ 0.03 $ 0.09 $ 0.04 $ 0.17
========= ======== ======== ========
Diluted ....................................................... $ 0.03 $ 0.09 $ 0.03 $ 0.16
========= ======== ======== ========
NOTE 3--ACQUISITIONS:
Internet Auction Acquisition
On February 15, 2001, eBay acquired a majority interest in Internet
Auction Co., Ltd., a South Korean company ("Internet Auction") for $120.8
million in cash and incurred $1.2 million of direct acquisition costs. Internet
Auction introduced person-to-person trading in Korea when it launched in April
1998. Shares of Internet Auction are listed on the KOSDAQ. The transaction was
accounted for using the purchase method of accounting and accordingly, the
results of operations of Internet Auction have been included in eBay's
consolidated financial statements from February 15, 2001. The aggregate purchase
price was allocated to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and
liabilities assumed of Internet Auction based upon management's estimates using
a valuation report prepared by an independent third party valuation consultant.
Identifiable intangible assets are amortized using estimated useful lives
ranging from two to five years. The excess of the aggregate purchase price over
the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired of $82.7 million has been
recognized as goodwill and is being amortized over five years. See Note 1-
Recent accounting pronouncements.
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
The aggregate purchase price was allocated as follows (in thousands):
Net tangible assets............................................................. $ 67,670
Identifiable intangible assets ................................................. 9,000
Deferred tax liability.......................................................... (3,600)
Goodwill........................................................................ 82,691
Minority interest............................................................... (33,834)
---------
Aggregate purchase price.................................................. $ 121,927
=========
iBazar S.A. Acquisition
On May 18, 2001, eBay completed its acquisition of iBazar S.A. ("iBazar")
in a transaction accounted for as a purchase business combination. iBazar is a
French-based corporation that introduced online person-to-person trading in
France and at the time of the acquisition had websites in Belgium, Brazil,
France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. As consideration for
the acquisition, eBay issued shares in a Belgian subsidiary exchangeable for
2,045,054 shares of eBay common stock valued at $120.4 million, paid $2.3
million in cash to certain shareholders and incurred acquisition-related costs
of approximately $2.9 million. The shares issued in the acquisition have been
valued in accordance with Emerging Issue Task Force Issue No. 99-12,
Determination of the Measurement Date for the Market Price of Acquirer
Securities Issued in a Purchase Business Combination ("EITF 99-12"). In
accordance with EITF 99-12, eBay has established that the first date on which
the number of eBay's shares and the amount of other consideration became fixed
was May 18, 2001. EITF 99-12 precludes the use of any share prices subsequent to
the consummation date of a transaction, and accordingly, eBay has valued the
transaction using the average closing price of eBay shares for the five days
prior to and including the closing date of May 18, 2001. The aggregate purchase
price of approximately $125.6 million has been allocated to the net tangible and
identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed on the basis of
their estimated fair values on the acquisition date.
Tangible assets were valued at their respective carrying amounts as
management believes that these amounts approximate their current fair values.
The valuation of the identifiable intangible assets acquired was based on
management's estimates using a preliminary valuation report prepared by an
independent third party valuation consultant and consists of customer base,
assembled workforce, developed technology and trade names. Identifiable
intangible assets are amortized using estimated useful lives ranging from two to
five years. eBay also identified certain assets as held for sale and valued
these assets based on the expected sale proceeds adjusted for losses expected to
be incurred during the holding period.
In accordance with EITF Issue No. 95-3, Recognition of Liabilities in
Connection with a Purchase Business Combination, eBay has established plans to
exit certain activities of iBazar and to involuntarily terminate certain iBazar
employees. In accordance with this exit plan, approximately $2 million has been
accrued for the estimated costs associated with severance, contract terminations
and financial advisory and legal fees and has been included in net tangible
assets. As of June 30, 2001, no costs have been charged against this liability.
The excess of the purchase price over the value of the tangible and
identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed has been
recorded as goodwill and is being amortized over five years. See Note 1- Recent
accounting pronouncements.
The aggregate purchase price was allocated as follows (in thousands):
Net tangible assets............................................................. $ 4,696
Identifiable intangible assets ................................................. 2,140
Deferred tax liability.......................................................... (856)
Goodwill........................................................................ 119,606
---------
Aggregate purchase price.................................................. $ 125,586
=========
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
Pro forma financial information
The following unaudited pro forma financial information presents the
combined results of eBay, Internet Auction and iBazar as if the acquisitions had
occurred as of the beginning of 2000 and 2001, respectively, after giving effect
to certain adjustments, including amortization of goodwill and other acquisition
related transactions (in thousands except per share amounts):
SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
-------------------------
2000 2001
----------- ---------
Net revenues.............................................................................. $ 187,814 $ 339,749
========= =========
Net income (loss)......................................................................... $ (10,697) $ 27,908
========= =========
Net income (loss) per share:
Basic............................................................................... $ (0.04) $ 0.11
========= =========
Diluted............................................................................. $ (0.04) $ 0.10
========= =========
The pro forma financial information does not necessarily reflect the
results of operations that would have occurred had eBay, Internet Auction and
iBazar constituted a consolidated entity during such periods. See Note 1- Recent
accounting pronouncements
NOTE 4--SEGMENT INFORMATION:
SFAS No. 131, "Disclosures about Segments of an Enterprise and Related
Information", established standards for reporting information about operating
segments in annual financial statements and requires that certain selected
information about operating segments be reported in interim financial reports.
It also establishes standards for related disclosures about products and
services and geographic areas. Operating segments are defined as components of
an enterprise about which separate financial information is evaluated regularly
by the chief operating decision-maker in order to allocate resources and in
assessing performance.
eBay has two primary reporting segments: online trading services,
consisting primarily of the eBay, Billpoint and Half.com web-based trading
platforms and offline, which includes the traditional auction services of
Butterfields and Kruse.
Segment selection is based upon the internal organization structure, the
manner in which these operations are managed and their performance evaluated by
management, the availability of separate financial information and overall
materiality considerations. Segment performance measurement is based on
operating income before amortization of acquired intangible assets, merger
related costs, stock-based cost and expenses, impairment of certain equity
investments and payroll tax on employee stock options.
9
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The operating information for the two reporting segments are as follows (in
thousands):
THREE MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2000 2001
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED
--------- -------- ------------ --------- -------- ------------
Net revenues from external customers...................... $88,615 $9,537 $ 98,152 $ 170,000 $ 10,905 $180,905
========= ======== ========= ========= ======== =========
Operating income (loss) before amortization of acquired
intangible assets, merger related costs, stock-based
cost and expenses, impairment of certain equity
investments and payroll tax on employee stock options.. $ 6,747 $(1,902) $ 4,845 $ 43,476 $1,634 $ 45,110
Interest and other income and expense,net................. 11,216 216 11,432 10,127 20 10,147
Interest expense.......................................... (474) (564) (1,038) (249) (710) (959)
Amortization of acquired intangible assets, merger
related costs, stock-based cost and expenses and
payroll tax on employee stock options................. (2,646) (728) (3,374) (9,578) (78) (9,656)
-------- ------- -------- --------- ------- --------
Income (loss) before income taxes and
minority interests..................................... $ 14,843 $(2,978) $ 11,865 $ 43,776 $ 866 $ 44,642
======== ======= ======== ======== ====== ========
SIX MONTHS ENDED JUNE 30,
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
2000 2001
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED
--------- -------- ------------ --------- -------- ------------
Net revenues from external customers...................... $166,011 $18,028 $ 184,039 $ 317,361 $17,634 $334,995
======== ======= ========= ========= ======= ========
Operating income (loss) before amortization of acquired
intangible assets, merger related costs, stock-based
cost and expenses, impairment of certain equity
investments and payroll tax on employee stock options.. $3,178 $(2,697) $ 481 $ 79,924 $ 167 $ 80,091
Interest and other income and expense, net................ 22,213 341 22,554 24,777 348 25,125
Impairment of certain equity investments.................. -- -- -- (9,921) -- (9,921)
Interest expense.......................................... (748) (1,136) (1,884) (551) (1,120) (1,671)
Amortization of acquired intangible assets, merger
related costs, stock-based cost and expenses and
payroll tax on employee stock options.................. (5,728) (806) (6,534) (13,774) (158) (13,932)
-------- ------- --------- -------- ------ --------
Income (loss) before income taxes and
minority interests..................................... $ 18,915 $(4,298) $ 14,617 $ 80,455 $ (763) $ 79,692
======== ======= ========= ======== ====== ========
DECEMBER 31, 2000 JUNE 30, 2001
---------------------------------- -----------------------------------
ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED ONLINE OFFLINE CONSOLIDATED
---------- -------- ------------ ---------- -------- ------------
Total assets.............................................. $1,084,909 $ 97,494 $1,182,403 $1,378,644 $97,013 $1,475,657
========== ======== ========== ========== ======= =========
10
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
NOTE 5--INVESTMENTS:
At December 31, 2000 and June 30, 2001, short and long-term investments
are composed as follows (in thousands):
DECEMBER 31, 2000
--------------------------------------------------------------
GROSS GROSS
GROSS UNREALIZED UNREALIZED ESTIMATED
AMORTIZED COST GAINS LOSSES FAIR VALUE
--------------- ----------- ---------- ------------
Short-term investments:
Municipal bonds and notes................................ $ 112,488 $ 15 $ (116) $112,387
Corporate securities..................................... 21,193 70 -- 21,263
Government securities.................................... 219,674 842 -- 220,516
------------ -------- ------- --------
Total $ 353,355 $ 927 $ (116) $354,166
============ ======== ======= ========
Long-term investments:
Municipal bonds and notes................................ $ 141,861 $ 69 $ (269) $141,661
Government securities.................................... 151,732 694 (81) 152,345
Equity instruments and other............................. 54,505 -- (3,924) 50,581
------------ -------- ------- --------
Total $ 348,098 $ 763 $(4,274) $344,587
============ ======== ======= ========
JUNE 30, 2001
--------------------------------------------------------------
GROSS GROSS
GROSS UNREALIZED UNREALIZED ESTIMATED
AMORTIZED COST GAINS LOSSES FAIR VALUE
--------------- ---------- ---------- ------------
Short-term investments:
Municipal bonds and notes................................ $160,748 $1,005 $ (7) $161,746
Corporate securities..................................... 8,986 56 -- 9,042
Government securities.................................... 47,445 214 -- 47,659
Time deposits and other.................................. 28,026 -- -- 28,026
-------- ------ ----- --------
Total $245,205 $1,275 $ (7) $246,473
======== ====== ===== ========
Long-term investments:
Municipal bonds and notes................................ $ 26,010 $ 213 $ (8) $ 26,215
Government securities.................................... 185,094 690 (18) 185,766
Equity instruments and other............................. 25,491 -- (434) 25,057
-------- ------ ----- --------
Total $236,595 $ 903 $(460) $237,038
======== ====== ===== ========
As of December 31, 2000 and June 30, 2001, long-term investments include
restricted cash and investments of $126,390 and $129,467, respectively. With the
exception of restricted cash, investments are generally classified as held to
maturity.
The estimated fair values of short and long-term investments at June 30,
2001, classified by date of contractual maturity are as follows (in thousands):
JUNE 30, 2001
-------------
Due within one year or less......................................................... $ 246,473
Due after one year through two years................................................ 46,417
Due after two years through three years............................................. 34,261
Due after three years through four years............................................ 11,054
Restricted cash and investments expiring in less than five years.................... 129,467
Equity investments.................................................................. 15,839
------------
$ 483,511
============
In accordance with our policy to assess whether an impairment loss on our
investments has occurred due to declines in fair value and other market
conditions, we determined that declines in fair value of certain of our equity
investments were
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
other than temporary. Accordingly, during the six months ended June, 30, 2001,
eBay recorded an impairment charge of $9.9 million relating to the other than
temporary impairment in the fair value of these equity investments.
NOTE 6--DERIVATIVE INSTRUMENTS:
eBay monitors and manages its financial exposures as an integral part of
its overall risk-management program. eBay uses derivative instruments to
minimize earnings fluctuations that may arise from volatility in U.S. interest
rates. eBay entered into two interest rate swaps on June 19 and July 20, 2000
with notional amounts of $45 million and $50 million that allow eBay to receive
floating rate receipts based on London Interbank Offering Rate ("LIBOR") in
exchange for making fixed rate payments of approximately 7% of the notional
amount. These interest rate swaps were designated as cash flow hedging
instruments to effectively reduce the impact of changes in interest rates on a
portion of the floating rate operating lease payments relating to eBay's
corporate office facilities. The fair value of the interest rate swaps as of
June 30, 2001 was an unrealized loss of $5.6 million.
During the six months ended June 30, 2001, the ineffective portion of the
interest rate swaps was not material. During the six months ended June 30, 2001,
$770,000 of losses on the interest rate swaps were classified to other
comprehensive income. The derivative losses reclassified into rent expense were
offset by decreases in rent expense relating to the operating lease. At June 30,
2001, eBay expects to reclassify $1.8 million of losses, net of tax, on the
interest rate swaps from accumulated other comprehensive income to rent expense
during the next twelve months.
eBay adopted SFAS No. 133, as amended, as of January 1, 2001. Upon
adoption, the cumulative effect on net income and other comprehensive income of
this change in accounting method relating to the interest rate swaps was a gain
of approximately $650,000 included in other income and expense, net, and a loss
of approximately $2.6 million, respectively, net of tax.
In addition to the interest rate swaps used in the cash flow hedging
strategy described above, eBay owns equity warrants and other similar rights in
certain companies as part of eBay's strategic investment strategy. These equity
rights are accounted for as derivative instruments under SFAS No. 133 and the
changes in fair value of these instruments are reflected in current period
earnings in the financial statement line interest and other income and expense,
net.
NOTE 7--CONTINGENCIES:
Legal Matters
On April 25, 2000, eBay was served with a lawsuit, Gentry et.al. v. eBay
Inc. et.al, filed in Superior Court in San Diego, California. The lawsuit was
filed on behalf of a purported class of eBay users who purchased allegedly
forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. The lawsuit claims eBay was
negligent in permitting certain named (and other unnamed) defendants to sell
allegedly forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. In addition, the
lawsuit claims eBay violated California unfair competition law and a section of
the California Civil Code which prohibits "dealers" from selling sports
memorabilia without a "Certificate of Authenticity." On January 26, 2001 the
court issued a ruling dismissing all claims against us in the lawsuit. The court
ruled that eBay's business falls within the safe harbor provisions of 47 USC 30,
which grants Internet service providers such as eBay with immunity from state
claims based on the conduct of third parties. The court also noted that eBay was
not a "dealer" under California law and thus not required to provide
certificates of authenticity with autographs sold over our site by third
parties. All counts of the plaintiffs' suit were dismissed with prejudice as to
eBay. The plaintiffs have filed an appeal of this ruling. eBay believes it has
meritorious defenses and intends to defend itself vigorously.
On April 25, 2001, eBay's European subsidiaries, eBay GMBH and eBay
International AG, were sued by Montres Rolex S.A. and certain Rolex affiliates
("Rolex") in the regional court of Cologne, Germany. Rolex alleged that eBay's
subsidiary was infringing Rolex's trademarks as result of users selling
counterfeit Rolex watches through eBay's German website. The suit also alleges
unfair competition. Rolex is seeking an order forbidding the sale of Rolex
watches on the website as well as damages. eBay believes that it has meritorious
defenses against this claim and intends to defend itself vigorously.
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EBAY INC.
NOTES TO CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS (CONTINUED)
(UNAUDITED)
From time to time, eBay is involved in disputes which arise in the
ordinary course of business. Management believes that the ultimate resolution of
these disputes will not have a material adverse impact on eBay's consolidated
financial position, results of operations or cash flows.
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ITEM 2: MANAGEMENT'S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS
OF OPERATIONS
FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS
This document contains certain forward-looking statements that involve
risks and uncertainties, such as statements of our plans, objectives,
expectations and intentions. When used in this document, the words "expects",
"anticipates", "intends", "plans" and similar expressions are intended to
identify certain of these forward-looking statements. The cautionary statements
made in this document should be read as being applicable to all related
forward-looking statements wherever they appear in this document. Our actual
results could differ materially from those discussed in this document. Factors
that could cause or contribute to such differences include those discussed
below.
OVERVIEW
We pioneered online person-to-person trading by developing a global online
trading platform that helps practically anyone buy or sell practically anything.
Our service permits sellers to list items for sale, buyers to bid on items of
interest and all eBay users to browse through listed items in a fully automated,
topically arranged, intuitive and easy-to-use online service that is available
seven days a week. We have extended our online offerings to include regional and
international trading, autos, "premium" priced items and through Half.com, eBay
Stores and our "Buy it Now" features, we now offers fixed-price functionality.
Additionally, Billpoint provides online billing and payment solutions. We also
have a traditional auction business, also called offline trading, through our
Butterfields and Kruse subsidiaries.
A substantial portion of our revenues are derived from fees and
commissions associated with online and offline trading services. Online revenue
is primarily derived from listing fees, feature fees and final value fees paid
by the sellers, and commissions paid by buyers for certain "premium" priced
items. Sellers pay a placement fee, and by paying additional fees, sellers can
have items featured in various ways. Sellers also pay a success fee based on the
final purchase price. In addition, we generate fees from payment services
provided by Billpoint and fixed price trading by Half.com. We also generate
revenue from third party advertising and end-to-end services and promotions.
Although we expect these end-to-end and direct advertising revenues to increase
in the future, they are subject to considerable uncertainty. See "Risk Factors
- -- Our revenue from third party advertising and end-to-end services and
promotons is subject to factors beyond our control." Offline revenue is derived
from a variety of sources, including sellers' commissions, buyers' premiums,
bidder registration fees and auction-related services, including appraisal and
authentication. We expect that the online business will continue to represent
the majority of revenue growth in the foreseeable future.
ACQUISITIONS
Internet Auction Acquisition
On February 15, 2001, eBay acquired a majority interest in Internet
Auction Co., Ltd., a South Korean company ("Internet Auction") for $120.8
million in cash and incurred $1.2 million of direct acquisition costs. Internet
Auction introduced person-to-person trading in Korea when it launched in April
1998. Shares of Internet Auction are listed on the KOSDAQ. The transaction was
accounted for using the purchase method of accounting and accordingly, the
results of operations of Internet Auction have been included in eBay's
consolidated financial statements from February 15, 2001. The aggregate purchase
price was allocated to tangible and identifiable intangible assets acquired and
liabilities assumed of Internet Auction based upon management's estimates using
a valuation report prepared by an independent third party valuation consultant.
Identifiable intangible assets are amortized using estimated useful lives
ranging from two to five years. The excess of the aggregate purchase price over
the fair value of the identifiable net assets acquired of $82.7 million has been
recognized as goodwill and is being amortized over five years. See Note 1 --
"Recent accounting pronouncements," in the notes to condensed consolidated
financial statements.
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iBazar S.A. Acquisition
On May 18, 2001, eBay completed its acquisition of iBazar S.A. ("iBazar")
in a transaction accounted for as a purchase business combination. iBazar, a
French-based corporation that introduced online person-to-person trading in
France and at the time of the acquisition had websites in Belgium, Brazil,
France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. As consideration for
the acquisition, eBay issued shares in a Belgian subsidiary exchangeable for
2,045,054 shares of eBay common stock valued at $120.4 million, paid $2.3
million in cash to certain shareholders and incurred acquisition-related costs
of approximately $2.9 million. The shares issued in the acquisition have been
valued in accordance with Emerging Issue Task Force Issue No. 99-12,
Determination of the Measurement Date for the Market Price of Acquirer
Securities Issued in a Purchase Business Combination ("EITF 99-12"). In
accordance with EITF 99-12, eBay has established that the first date on which
the number of eBay's shares and the amount of other consideration became fixed
was May 18, 2001. EITF 99-12 precludes the use of any share prices subsequent to
the consummation date of a transaction, and accordingly, eBay has valued the
transaction using the average closing price of eBay shares for the five days
prior to and including the closing date of May 18, 2001. The aggregate purchase
price of approximately $125.6 million has been allocated to the net tangible and
identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed on the basis of
their estimated fair values on the acquisition date.
Tangible assets were valued at their respective carrying amounts as
management believes that these amounts approximate their current fair values.
The valuation of the identifiable intangible assets acquired was based on
management's estimates using a preliminary valuation report prepared by an
independent third party valuation consultant and consists of customer base,
assembled workforce, developed technology and trade names. Identifiable
intangible assets are amortized using estimated useful lives ranging from two to
five years. eBay also identified certain assets as held for sale and valued
these assets based on the expected sale proceeds adjusted for losses expected to
be incurred during the holding period.
In accordance with EITF Issue No. 95-3, Recognition of Liabilities in
Connection with a Purchase Business Combination, eBay has established plans to
exit certain activities of iBazar and to involuntary terminate certain iBazar
employees. In accordance with this exit plan, approximately $2 million has been
accrued for the estimated costs associated with severance, contract terminations
and financial advisory and legal fees and has been included in net tangible
assets. As of June 30, 2001, no costs have been charged against this liability.
The excess of the purchase price over the value of the tangible and
identifiable intangible assets acquired and liabilities assumed has been
recorded as goodwill and is being amortized over five years. See Note 1 --
"Recent accounting pronouncements," in the notes to condensed consolidated
financial statements.
RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
It is difficult for us to forecast revenues or earnings accurately, and
the operating results in one or more future quarters may fall below the
expectations of securities analysts or investors. Although accurate revenue
forecasts are difficult, we recognize the seasonal nature of our business
because many of our users reduce their activities on our websites during the
Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and with the onset of good weather. We have
historically experienced our strongest quarter of online growth in our first
fiscal quarter, although our shift to more "practical" items may cause our
seasonal patterns to look more like those of a typical retailer. Both
Butterfields and Kruse have significant quarter-to-quarter variations in their
results of operations depending on the timing of auctions and the availability
of high quality items from large collections and estates. Butterfields typically
has its best operating results in the traditional fall and spring auction
seasons and has historically incurred operating losses in the first and third
quarters. Kruse typically sees a seasonal peak in operations in the third
quarter. Seasonal or cyclical variations in our business may become more
pronounced over time and may harm our results of operations in the future.
Due to the inherent difficulty in forecasting net revenues, it is also
difficult to forecast income statement expense categories as a percentage of net
revenues. Quarterly and annual income statement expense categories as a
percentage of net revenues may be significantly different from historical or
projected rates. As a general note, we expect costs to increase in absolute
dollars across all income statement categories.
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To a large extent, the changes in the consolidated results of operations
for the periods presented are due to the growth of the online business, which
will be the primary focus of our discussion.
Net Revenues
We derive revenue from a variety of sources, including listing, success
and featured item fees, third party advertising, and end-to-end services and
promotions. In addition, we derive commissions and rental income from our
traditional offline auction operations. Our net revenues increased by 84.2% from
$98.2 million for the three months ended June 30, 2000, to $180.9 million for
the three months ended June 30, 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001,
net revenues increased from $184.0 million to $335.0 million, or 82.0%, compared
to the six months ended June 30, 2000. The successive year over year growth from
2000 to 2001, was predominantly the result of increased use of our websites,
reflected in the growth in the number of registered users, listings and gross
merchandise sales as well as increased third party advertising revenues. Fee
increases in the U.S. on January 31, 2001 and fee increases in various other
international locations, combined with the consolidation of revenues from
Internet Auction and iBazar, had a positive impact on revenues for the quarter.
Revenues from third party advertising during the three months ended June 30,
2001, account for 10% of net revenues, up from 2% for the same period of 2000
and up from 8% for the three months ended March 31, 2001. For the six months
ended June 30, 2001, third party advertising accounted for 9% of net revenues,
compared to 2% for the same period of 2000. These revenues have increased
primarily as a result of our strategy to increase site monetization through our
partnership with AOL Time Warner. However, we continue to view our business as
primarily transaction driven and over the longer term we do not expect
advertising revenues to significantly increase as a percentage of total net
revenues. International revenues accounted for 14% and 6% of net revenues during
the three month periods ended June 30, 2001 and 2000, respectively, and 13% and
6% of net revenues during the six months ended June 30, 2001 and 2000,
respectively. We expect the trend of increasing international revenues to
continue as we build out our worldwide marketplace. Year to date, offline
revenues were comparable to the previous year, however, for the three months
ended June 30, 2001, our Butterfields subsidiary increased net revenues compared
to the comparable period in 2000 primarily due increased auction revenues. We
expect that future revenue growth will be largely driven by the growth of online
services.
Cost of Net Revenues
Cost of net revenues for online operations consists primarily of costs
associated with customer support and site operations and includes employee and
facilities costs for customer support and site operations personnel, ISP
connectivity charges and depreciation on site equipment. Cost of net revenues in
traditional auction operations primarily includes compensation for auction,
appraisal, and customer support personnel and direct auction costs, such as
event site rental. Cost of net revenues increased in absolute dollars but
decreased as a percentage of net revenues from $24.2 million or 24.7% of net
revenues to $32.9 million or 18.2% of net revenues for the three months ended
June 30, 2000 and 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001, cost of net
revenues increased in absolute terms from $47.6 million to $59.9 million but
decreased as a percentage of net revenues from 25.9% to 17.9% as compared to the
six months ended June 30, 2000. The increases in absolute dollars in
expenditures were due almost entirely to our online businesses, and resulted
from the continued development and expansion of our customer support and site
operations departments, depreciation of the equipment required for site
operations, software licensing fees and ISP connectivity charges. The decrease
in cost of net revenues as a percentage of net revenues from 2000 to 2001,
resulted from improved productivity and cost management in customer support and
site operations and increases in higher gross margin businesses such as autos,
end-to-end trading solutions and advertising. As a result of these efficiencies,
we expect the cost of net revenues to increase in absolute dollars but remain
above 80% as a percentage of net revenues throughout the remainder of 2001.
Sales and Marketing
Our sales and marketing expenses for both the online and traditional
auction businesses are comprised primarily of compensation for our sales and
marketing personnel, advertising, tradeshow and other promotional costs,
employee and facilities costs. Sales and marketing expenses increased in
absolute dollars but decreased as a percentage of sales from $37.1 million or
37.8% of net revenues to $60.1 million or 33.2% of net revenues for the three
months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001,
sales and marketing increased in absolute dollars but decreased as a percentage
of sales from $76.6 million or 41.6% of net revenues to $115.7 million or 34.5%
of net revenues as compared to the six months ended June 30, 2000. The
successive year over year growth from 2000 to 2001 was primarily the result of
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growth in online and traditional advertising, including expenses for various
marketing agreements, personnel related costs, costs associated with the use of
outside services and consultants and miscellaneous user and promotional costs.
Online sales and marketing expenses are expected to increase in absolute
dollars for the remainder of 2001. We expect to build our brand further with
continued advertising delivered under our strategic alliances with various third
parties and the expansion of international advertising. Sales and marketing
expenses in the traditional auction businesses are expected to remain comparable
with historic levels.
Product Development
Product development expenses consist primarily of compensation for our
product development staff, payments to outside contractors, depreciation on
equipment used for development, employee and facilities costs. Our product
development expenses increased from $13.6 million or 13.9% of net revenues to
$17.7 million or 9.8% of net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2000
and 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001, product development increased
in absolute dollars but decreased as a percentage of sales from $25.9 million or
14.1% of net revenues to $33.4 million or 10.0% of net revenues as compared to
the six months ended June 30, 2000. The year-over-year growth in product
development cost from 2000 to 2001 was primarily the result of an increase in
personnel-related costs as we increased the size of our product development
staff, expenses related to contractors and consultants employed within product
development departments and maintenance and depreciation for equipment used in
research and development. The year over year increase also resulted from the
growth of product development expenses at our Half.com subsidiary. Product
development expenses are expected to increase in absolute dollars during future
periods primarily from personnel additions, the continued impact of investments
in our fixed price and payment businesses, additional depreciation costs as we
continue to purchase equipment to improve and expand domestic and international
operations and certain costs associated with the development of our next
generation architecture.
General and Administrative
General and administrative expenses consist primarily of compensation for
personnel and, to a lesser extent, fees for external professional advisors,
provisions for doubtful accounts, employee and facilities costs. Our general and
administrative expenses increased from $20.6 million or 21.0% of net revenues to
$25.6 million or 14.2% of net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2000
and 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001, general and administrative
costs increased in absolute terms from $37.6 million to $46.9 million but
decreased as a percentage of net revenues from 20.4% to 14.0% as compared to the
six months ended June 30, 2000. The year-over-year increases resulted from
growth in personnel-related expenses to meet the demands of our expanding
business, including operations in new countries and the integration of new
businesses, fees for professional services, employee and facilities costs. We
expect that general and administrative expenses will increase in absolute
dollars in future periods as we continue to invest in the infrastructure that is
necessary to manage our business.
Payroll Tax on Employee Stock Options
We are subject to employer payroll taxes on certain employee exercises of
non-qualified stock options. These employer payroll taxes are recorded as a
charge to operations in the period such options are exercised and sold based on
actual gains realized by employees. Our quarterly results of operations and cash
flows could vary significantly depending on the actual period in which the stock
options are exercised by employees and, consequently, the amount of employer
payroll taxes assessed.
Amortization of Acquired Intangible Assets
From time to time we have purchased, and expect to continue purchasing,
assets or businesses to support our leadership role in online trading. These
purchases may result in the creation of intangible assets and lead to a
corresponding increase in related amortization expense. Our amortization of
acquired intangible assets increased from $340,000 or 0.3% of net revenues to
$8.8 million or 4.9% of net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2000
and 2001. For the six months ended June 30, 2001, amortization of acquired
intangible assets increased from $615,000 or 0.3% of net revenues to $12.2
million or 3.6% of net revenues as compared to the six months ended June 30,
2000. The increase resulted primarily from our purchase of a majority interest
in Internet Auction and the acquisition of iBazar. We expect the amortization of
intangible assets to continue to increase in 2001 due to on-going amortization
related to Internet Auction and iBazar.
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In July 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued and SFAS
No. 142 "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets" that requires the use of a
non-amortization approach to account for purchased goodwill and certain
intangibles. Under a non-amortization approach, goodwill and certain intangibles
will not be amortized into results of operations, but instead would be reviewed
for impairment and written down and charged to results of operations only in the
periods in which the recorded value of goodwill and certain intangibles exceed
their fair values. This Statement is effective for fiscal years beginning after
December 15, 2001, and eBay is currently evaluating the effect that adoption of
this Statement will have on its results of operations and financial position.
eBay will adopt SFAS No. 142 effective January 1, 2002, which will result in the
Company no longer amortizing its existing goodwill.
Interest and Other Income and Expense, Net
Interest and other income and expense, net consists of interest earned on
cash, cash equivalents and investments and foreign exchange transaction gains
and losses. Our interest and other income and expense, net decreased from $11.4
million or 11.6% of net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2000 to
$10.1 million or 5.6% of net revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2001,
primarily as a result of the decrease in the average invested balance due to the
cash purchase of a majority interest in Internet Auction. Interest and other
income and expense, net increased from $22.6 million to $25.1 million from the
six months ended June 30, 2001 as compared to the six months ended June 30,
2000, primarily as a result of the increase in the average balance that was
invested during the first three months of 2001.
Impairment of Certain Equity Investments
As part of our overall business strategy, we have invested and will
continue to invest in companies that we consider to be of strategic value. Due
to the general downturn in the economy and the financial difficulties that some
of these companies have experienced, we have concluded that the reduction in the
fair value of certain of these investments was other than temporary and recorded
an impairment charge of $9.9 million during the three months ended March 31,
2001, which are reflected in the operating results for the six months ended June
30, 2001.
Interest Expense
Interest expense consists of interest paid on short-term and long-term
borrowings. Interest expense remained fairly constant and only decreased
slightly from $1.0 million or 1.0% of net revenues to $959,000 or 0.5% of net
revenues for the three months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively, and
from $1.9 million or 1.0% of net revenues to $1.7 million or 0.5% of net
revenues for the six months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively.
Provision for Income Taxes
Our effective income tax rates were 42.0% and 46.4% in the three months
ended June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively, and 42.0% and 44.6% in the six
months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively. The increase in the effective
rate for the three and six months ended June 30, 2001, compared to the same
period last year is primarily due to certain nondeductible expenses related to
acquisitions and is partially offset by income from operations in foreign
jurisdictions with lower effective tax rates. The provision for income taxes for
both periods differs from the amount computed by applying the statutory U.S.
federal rate principally due to state taxes, tax exempt interest income and
nondeductible expenses. We receive tax deductions from gains realized by
employees on the exercise of certain non-qualified stock options for which the
benefit is recognized as a component of paid-in capital. We have provided a
valuation allowance on the deferred tax assets relating to these stock option
deductions.
Stock-Based Compensation
In connection with granting certain stock options from May 1997 through
May 1999, we recorded aggregate unearned compensation totaling $13.1 million,
which is being amortized over the four-year vesting period of the related
options. In connection with certain stock options granted by companies that we
subsequently acquired, we recorded unearned compensation totaling $9.3 million.
Amortization of unearned stock compensation was approximately $1.4 million for
the three months ended June 30, 2000, $450,000 for the three months ended June
30, 2001 and $3.4 million and $1.4 million respectively for the six months ended
June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively. As of June 30, 2001, unearned compensation
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totaling $4.2 million was recorded as a component of stockholders' equity and
will be amortized as a charge against earnings over the remaining vesting period
of the related options.
LIQUIDITY AND CAPITAL RESOURCES
Since inception, eBay has financed operations primarily from net cash
generated from operating activities. We obtained additional financing from the
sale of preferred stock and warrants, proceeds from the exercise of those
warrants, proceeds from the exercise of stock options, and proceeds from our
initial and follow-on public offerings.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $35.4 million and $107.0
million for the six months ended June 30, 2000 and 2001, respectively. Net cash
provided by operating activities resulted primarily from our net income before
non-cash charges for depreciation and amortization, tax benefit from employee
stock options and impairment of certain equity investments offset by changes in
assets and liabilities, primarily accounts receivable.
Net cash used in investing activities was $187.2 million for the six
months ended June 30, 2000, and net cash provided by investing activities was
$131.5 million for the same period in 2001. In 2000, the primary use for
invested cash in the periods presented was purchases of investments, property
and equipment. In 2001, net cash provided by the maturity of certain short-term
investments was partially offset by the cash paid for the acquisition of a
majority interest in Internet Auction.
Net cash provided by financing activities was $73.3 million for the six
months ended June 30, 2000 and $1.1 million for the same period in 2001. In
2000, net cash provided in financing activities resulted primarily from the
issuance of common stock to third parties by our subsidiaries and the sale of
common stock under employee stock option plans. In 2001, net cash provided in
financing activities primarily resulted from the issuance of common stock under
employee benefits plans.
We had no material commitments for capital expenditures at June 30, 2001,
but expect such expenditures to approximate $43 million throughout the remainder
of 2001, without taking into account any acquisitions. Of the $43 million,
approximately $18 million has been allocated to capital expenditures relating to
hardware and software for the development of our new architecture. The remaining
balance will be used primarily for computer equipment, furniture and fixtures
and leasehold improvements. In August 2001, we amended our Interactive Marketing
and Advertising Representation agreements with AOL Time Warner. The amendments
extend the term of the relationship through March 2004, provide additional
exclusivity for AOL Time Warner and do not result in a material change to our
projected operating results and liquidity. In February 2000, we signed a
promotional agreement with certain affiliates of The Walt Disney Company
("Disney") then known as GO.com. GO.com was subsequently reorganized by Disney
and we have renegotiated our agreement. The revised agreement does not result in
a material change to our projected operating results and liquidity.
We believe that existing cash, cash equivalents and investments, and any
cash generated from operations will be sufficient to fund our operating
activities, capital expenditures and other obligations for the foreseeable
future. However, if during that period or thereafter we are not successful in
generating sufficient cash flow from operations or in raising additional capital
when required in sufficient amounts and on terms acceptable to us, our business
could suffer.
RECENT ACCOUNTING PRONOUNCEMENTS
In March 2000, the Emerging Issues Task Force ("EITF") reached a
consensus on EITF Issue No. 00-14, "Accounting for Certain Sales Incentives."
This consensus provides guidance on the recognition, measurement, and income
statement classification of sales incentives which are offered voluntarily by a
vendor without charge to customers that can be used in, or that are exercisable
by a customer as a result of, a single exchange transaction. At the April 2001
meeting, the EITF reached a consensus to defer the effective date to quarters
beginning after December 15, 2001. eBay believes that implementation of EITF No.
00-14 will not have a material effect on its consolidated financial statements.
In July 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued SFAS No.
141, "Business Combinations," that requires business combinations initiated
after June 30, 2001, to be accounted for using the purchase method of accounting
and broadens the criteria for recording intangible assets separate from
goodwill. Recorded goodwill and intangible assets will have to be evaluated
against these new criteria and may result in certain intangible assets being
subsumed into
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goodwill, or alternatively, amounts initially recorded as goodwill may be
separately identified and recognized apart from goodwill. The adoption of SFAS
No. 141 will not change the method of accounting used in previous business
combinations accounted for under the pooling-of-interest method.
In July 2001, the Financial Accounting Standards Board issued and SFAS
No. 142, "Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets," that requires the use of a
non-amortization approach to account for purchased goodwill and certain
intangible assets. Under a non-amortization approach, goodwill and certain
intangible assets will not be amortized into results of operations, but instead
would be reviewed for impairment and written down and charged to results of
operations only in the periods in which the recorded value of goodwill and
certain intangible assets exceed their fair values. This statement is effective
for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2001, and eBay is currently
evaluating the effect that adoption of this Statement will have on its results
of operations and financial position. eBay will adopt SFAS No. 142 effective
January 1, 2002, which will result in the Company no longer amortizing its
existing goodwill.
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RISK FACTORS THAT MAY AFFECT RESULTS OF OPERATIONS AND FINANCIAL CONDITION
The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones facing
eBay. Additional risks and uncertainties not presently known to us or that we
currently deem immaterial also may impair our business operations. If any of the
following risks or such other risks actually occur, our business could be
harmed.
We have a limited operating history
Our company was formed as a sole proprietorship in September 1995 and was
incorporated in California in May 1996 and reincorporated in Delaware in April
1998. We have only a limited operating history on which you can base an
evaluation of our business and prospects. As an online commerce company still
relatively early in our development, we face substantial risks, uncertainties,
expenses and difficulties. To address these risks and uncertainties, we and our
subsidiaries must do the following:
- maintain and increase our number of registered users, items
listed on our service and completed sales;
- expand into new areas;
- maintain and grow our websites and customer support operations
at a reasonable cost;
- continue to make trading through our service safer for users;
- maintain and enhance our brand;
- continue to develop and upgrade our technology and information
processing systems;
- continue to enhance and expand our service to meet the changing
requirements of our users;
- provide superior customer service;
- remain attractive to our commercial partners;
- respond to changing legal environments in a variety of countries
- respond to competitive developments; and
- attract, integrate, retain and motivate qualified personnel.
We may be unable to accomplish one or more of these goals, which could
cause our business to suffer. In addition, accomplishing one or more of these
goals might be very expensive, which could harm our financial results.
Our operating results may fluctuate
Our operating results have varied on a quarterly basis during our
operating history. Our operating results may fluctuate significantly as a result
of a variety of factors, many of which are outside our control. Factors that may
affect our quarterly operating results include the following:
- our ability to retain an active user base, to attract new users
who list items for sale and who purchase items through our
service and to maintain customer satisfaction;
- our ability to keep our websites operational and to manage the
number of items listed on our service;
- the amount and timing of operating costs and capital
expenditures relating to the maintenance and expansion of our
business, operations and infrastructure;
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- foreign, federal, state or local government regulation,
including investigations prompted by items improperly listed or
sold by our users;
- the introduction of new sites, services and products by us or
our competitors;
- volume, size, timing and completion rate of trades on our
websites;
- consumer confidence in the security of transactions on our
websites;
- our ability to upgrade and develop our systems and
infrastructure to accommodate growth;
- technical difficulties or service interruptions;
- our ability to attract new personnel in a timely and effective
manner;
- our ability to retain key employees in both our online
businesses and our acquisitions;
- our ability to integrate and manage our acquisitions
successfully;
- our ability to expand our product offerings involving fixed
price trading successfully;
- the ability of our land-based auction businesses to acquire high
quality properties for auction;
- the timing, cost and availability of advertising in traditional
media and on other websites and online services;
- the cost and demand for advertising on our own websites;
- the timing of payments to us and of marketing and other expenses
under existing and future contracts;
- consumer trends and popularity of some categories of collectible
items;
- the success of our brand building and marketing campaigns;
- the continued success of our commercial partners and technology
suppliers;
- the level of use of the Internet and online services;
- increasing consumer acceptance of the Internet and other online
services for commerce and, in particular, the trading of
products such as those listed on our websites; and
- general economic conditions and economic conditions specific to
the Internet and e-commerce industries.
Our limited operating history and the increased variety of services
offered on our sites, makes it difficult for us to forecast the level or source
of our revenues or earnings accurately. We believe that period-to-period
comparisons of our operating results may not be meaningful, and you should not
rely upon them as an indication of future performance. We do not have backlog,
and almost all of our net revenues each quarter come from transactions for items
that are listed and sold during that quarter. Our operating results in one or
more future quarters may fall below the expectations of securities analysts and
investors. In that event, the trading price of our common stock would almost
certainly decline.
Our failure to manage growth could harm us
We currently are experiencing a period of expansion in our headcount,
facilities and infrastructure, and we anticipate that further expansion will be
required to address potential growth in our customer base and number of listings
as well as our expansion into new geographic areas, types of goods and
alternative methods of sale. This expansion has placed, and
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we expect it will continue to place, a significant strain on our management,
operational and financial resources. The areas that are put under strain by our
growth include the following:
- The Websites. We must constantly add new hardware, update software
and add new engineering personnel to accommodate the increased use of
our and our subsidiaries' websites and the new products and features
we are regularly introducing. This upgrade process is expensive, and
the increased complexity of our websites increases the cost of
additional enhancements. If we are unable to increase the capacity of
our systems at least as fast as the growth in demand for this
capacity, our websites may become unstable and may cease to operate
for periods of time. We have experienced periodic unscheduled
downtime. Continued unscheduled downtime would harm our business and
also could anger users of our websites and reduce future revenues.
- Customer Support. We are expanding our customer support operations to
accommodate the increased number of users and transactions on our
websites. If we are unable provide these operations in a
cost-effective manner, users of our websites may have negative
experiences, and current and future revenues could suffer, or our
margins may decrease.
- Customer Accounts. Our revenues are dependent on prompt and accurate
billing processes. If we are unable to grow our transaction
processing abilities to accommodate the increasing number of
transactions that must be billed, our ability to collect revenue will
be harmed.
We must continue to hire, train and manage new employees at a rapid rate.
The majority of our employees today have been with us less than one year and we
expect that our rate of hiring will continue at a very high pace. If our new
hires perform poorly, or if we are unsuccessful in hiring, training and
integrating these new employees, or if we are not successful in retaining our
existing employees, our business may be harmed. To manage the expected growth of
our operations and personnel, we will need to improve our transaction
processing, operational and financial systems, procedures and controls. This is
a special challenge as we acquire new operations with different systems. Our
current and planned personnel, systems, procedures and controls may not be
adequate to support our future operations. We may be unable to hire, train,
retain and manage required personnel or to identify and take advantage of
existing and potential strategic relationships and market opportunities.
We may not maintain profitability
We believe that our continued profitability will depend in large part on
our ability to do the following:
- maintain sufficient transaction volume to attract buyers and sellers;
- manage the costs of our business, including the costs associated with
maintaining and developing our websites, customer support and
international and product expansion;
- increase our brand name awareness; and
- provide our customers with superior community and trading
experiences.
We are investing heavily in marketing and promotion, customer support,
further development of our websites, technology and operating infrastructure
development. The costs of these investments are expected to remain significant
into the future. In addition, many of our acquisitions require continuing
investments in these areas and we have significant ongoing contractual
commitments in some of these areas. As a result, we may be unable to adjust our
spending rapidly enough to compensate for any unexpected revenue shortfall,
which may harm our profitability. The existence of several larger and more
established companies that are enabling online sales as well as newer companies,
many of whom do not charge for transactions on their sites and others who are
facilitating trading through other pricing formats (e.g., fixed price, reverse
auction, group buying, etc.) may limit our ability to raise user fees in
response to declines in profitability. In addition, we are spending in advance
of anticipated growth, which may also harm our profitability. In view of the
rapidly evolving nature of our business and our limited operating history, we
believe that period-to-period comparisons of our operating results are not
necessarily meaningful. You should not rely upon our historical results as
indications of our future performance.
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Acquisitions could result in dilution, operating difficulties and other harmful
consequences
We have acquired a number of businesses, including our recently completed
acquisitions of Half.com, Internet Auction and iBazar and may in the future
acquire businesses, technologies, services or products that we believe are
strategic. The process of integrating any acquisition may create unforeseen
operating difficulties and expenditures and is itself risky. The areas where we
may face difficulties include:
- diversion of management time (at both companies) during the period of
negotiation through closing and further diversion of such time after
closing from focus on operating the businesses to issues of
integration and future products;
- decline in employee morale and retention issues resulting from
changes in compensation, reporting relationships, future prospects or
the direction of the business;
- the need to integrate each company's accounting, management
information, human resource and other administrative systems to
permit effective management, and the lack of control if such
integration is delayed or not implemented;
- the need to implement controls, procedures and policies appropriate
for a larger public company at companies that prior to acquisition
had lacked such controls, procedures and policies; and
- in some cases, the need to transition operations onto the existing
eBay platform.
Prior to the four large acquisitions we made in 1999, we had almost no
experience in managing this integration process. Many of our acquisitions to
date have involved either family-run companies or very early stage companies,
which may worsen these integration issues. Foreign acquisitions involve special
risks, including those related to integration of operations across different
cultures, currency risks and the particular economic and regulatory risks
associated with specific countries. Moreover, the anticipated benefits of any or
all of our acquisitions may not be realized. Future acquisitions or mergers
could result in potentially dilutive issuances of equity securities, the
incurrence of debt, contingent liabilities or amortization expenses related to
goodwill and other intangible assets, any of which could harm our business.
Future acquisitions or mergers may require us to obtain additional equity or
debt financing, which may not be available on favorable terms or at all. Even if
available, this financing may be dilutive.
There are many risks associated with our international operations
We are expanding internationally. In 1999, we acquired alando.de.ag, a
leading online German personal trading platform, and began operations in the
United Kingdom and, through a joint venture, in Australia. In the first quarter
of 2000, we further expanded into Japan and formally launched our localized
Canadian operations. In October 2000, we launched our French site. In January
2001, we launched our Italian site. In February 2001, we completed our
acquisition of a majority interest in Internet Auction, and in May 2001, we
completed our acquisition of iBazar, a French company with online trading
operations in eight countries, primarily in Europe. Expansion into international
markets requires management attention and resources. We have limited experience
in localizing our service to conform to local cultures, standards and policies.
In most countries, we will have to compete with local companies who understand
the local market better than we do. We may not be successful in expanding into
international markets or in generating revenues from foreign operations. Even if
we are successful, the costs of operating new sites are expected to exceed our
net revenues for at least 12 months in most countries. As we continue to expand
internationally, we are subject to risks of doing business internationally,
including the following:
- regulatory requirements, including regulation of "auctions," that may
limit or prevent the offering of our services in local jurisdictions,
may prevent enforceable agreements between sellers and buyers, may
prohibit certain categories of goods or may limit the transfer of
information between our foreign subsidiaries and ourselves;
- legal uncertainty regarding liability for the listings of our users,
including less Internet-friendly legal systems, unique local laws and
lack of clear precedent or applicable law;
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- difficulties in staffing and managing foreign operations;
- longer payment cycles, different accounting practices and problems in
collecting accounts receivable;
- local taxation of transactions on our websites;
- higher telecommunications and Internet service provider costs;
- stronger local competitors;
- more stringent consumer and data protection laws;
- cultural non-acceptance of online trading;
- seasonal reductions in business activity; and
- potentially adverse tax consequences.
Some of these factors may cause our international costs to exceed our
domestic costs of doing business. To the extent we expand our international
operations and have additional portions of our international revenues
denominated in foreign currencies, we also could become subject to increased
difficulties in collecting accounts receivable and risks relating to foreign
currency exchange rate fluctuations.
Our revenue from third party advertising and end-to-end services and promotions
is subject to factors beyond our control
We are receiving revenues from end-to-end service providers and direct
advertising promotions. These revenues may be affected by the financial
condition of the parties with whom we have these relationships and by the
success of online promotions generally. Recently, the pricing of online
advertisements has deteriorated. Our direct advertising revenue is dependent in
significant part on the performance of AOL's sales force, which we do not
control. These revenues have become increasingly important to us. Reduction in
these revenues, whether due to the softening of the demand for online
advertising in general or particular problems facing parties with whom we have
commercial relationships, would adversely affect our results.
Our business may be harmed by the listing or sale by our users of illegal items
The law relating to the liability of providers of online services for the
activities of their users on their service is currently unsettled. We are aware
that certain goods, such as firearms, other weapons, adult material, tobacco
products, alcohol and other goods that may be subject to regulation by local,
state or federal authorities, have been listed and traded on our service. We may
be unable to prevent the sale of unlawful goods, or the sale of goods in an
unlawful manner, by users of our service, and we may be subject to allegations
of civil or criminal liability for unlawful activities carried out by users
through our service. We have been subject to several lawsuits based upon such
allegations. See "--Government inquiries may lead to charges or penalties,"
"--We are subject to intellectual property and other litigation" and "Legal
Proceedings." In order to reduce our exposure to this liability, we have
prohibited the listing of certain items and increased the number of personnel
reviewing questionable items. In the future, we may implement other protective
measures that could require us to spend substantial resources and/or to reduce
revenues by discontinuing certain service offerings. Any costs incurred as a
result of liability or asserted liability relating to the sale of unlawful goods
or the unlawful sale of goods, could harm our business. In addition, we have
received significant and continuing media attention relating to the listing or
sale of unlawful goods on our websites. This negative publicity could damage our
reputation and diminish the value of our brand name. It also could make users
reluctant to continue to use our services.
Our business may be harmed by the listing or sale by our users of pirated or
counterfeit items
We have received in the past, and we anticipate we will receive in the
future, communications alleging that certain items listed or sold through our
service by our users infringe third-party copyrights, trademarks and tradenames
or other
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intellectual property rights. Although we have sought to work actively with the
content community to eliminate infringing listings on our websites, some content
owners have expressed the view that our efforts are insufficient. Content owners
have been active in defending their rights against online companies, including
eBay. Allegations of infringement of third-party intellectual property rights
have in the past and may in the future result in litigation against us. Such
litigation is costly for us, could result in increased costs of doing business
through adverse judgment or settlement, could require us to change our business
practices in expensive ways, or could otherwise harm our business. Litigation
against other online companies could result in interpretations of the law that
could also require us to change our business practices or otherwise increase our
costs. See "--Government inquiries may lead to charges or penalties," "Legal
Proceedings" and "--We are subject to intellectual property and other
litigation."
Our business may be harmed by fraudulent activities on our websites
Our future success will depend largely upon sellers reliably delivering
and accurately representing their listed goods and buyers paying the agreed
purchase price. We have received in the past, and anticipate that we will
receive in the future, communications from users who did not receive the
purchase price or the goods that were to have been exchanged. In some cases
individuals have been arrested and convicted for fraudulent activities using our
websites. While we can suspend the accounts of users who fail to fulfill their
delivery obligations to other users, we do not have the ability to require users
to make payments or deliver goods or otherwise make users whole other than
through our limited reimbursement program. Other than through this program, we
do not compensate users who believe they have been defrauded by other users. We
also periodically receive complaints from buyers as to the quality of the goods
purchased. Negative publicity generated as a result of fraudulent or deceptive
conduct by users of our service could damage our reputation and diminish the
value of our brand name. We expect to continue to receive requests from users
requesting reimbursement or threatening or commencing legal action against us if
no reimbursement is made. Our liability for these sort of claims is only
beginning to be clarified and may be higher in some non-U.S. jurisdictions than
it is in the U.S. This sort of litigation could be costly for us, divert
management attention, result in increased costs of doing business, lead to
adverse judgments or could otherwise harm our business. In addition, affected
users will likely complain to regulatory agencies. See "--Government inquiries
may lead to charges or penalties."
Government inquiries may lead to charges or penalties
On January 29, 1999, we received initial requests to produce certain
records and information to the federal government relating to an investigation
of possible illegal transactions in connection with our websites. We were
informed that the inquiry includes an examination of our practices with respect
to these transactions. We have continued to provide further information in
connection with this ongoing inquiry. In order to protect the investigation, the
court has ordered that no further public disclosures be made with respect to the
matter.
On March 24, 2000, Butterfields received a grand jury subpoena from the
Antitrust Division of the Department of Justice requesting documents relating
to, among other things, changes in Butterfields' seller commissions and buyer
premiums and discussions, agreements or understandings with other auction
houses, in each case since 1992. We believe this request may be related to a
publicly reported criminal case against certain auction houses for price fixing.
We have provided the information requested in the subpoena.
Should these or any other investigations lead to civil or criminal charges
against us, we would likely be harmed by negative publicity, the costs of
litigation, the diversion of management time and other negative effects, even if
we ultimately prevail. Our business would suffer if we were not to prevail in
any actions like these. Even the process of providing records and information
can be expensive, time consuming and result in the diversion of management
attention.
A large number of transactions occur on our websites. We believe that
government regulators have received a substantial number of consumer complaints
about us which, while small as a percentage of our total transactions, are large
in aggregate numbers. As a result, we have from time to time been contacted by
various foreign, federal, state and local regulatory agencies and been told that
they have questions with respect to the adequacy of the steps we take to protect
our users from fraud. We are likely to receive additional inquiries from
regulatory agencies in the future, which may lead to action against us. We have
responded to all inquiries from regulatory agencies by describing our current
and planned antifraud efforts. If one or more of these agencies is not satisfied
with our response to current or future inquiries, the resultant investigations
and potential fines or other penalties could harm our business.
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We are subject to laws relating to the use and transfer of personally
identifiable information about our users and their transfers, especially outside
of the U.S. Violation of these laws, which in many cases apply not only to
third-party transfers but also to transfers of information between ourselves and
our subsidiaries and between ourselves, our subsidiaries and our commercial
partners could subject us to significant penalties and negative publicity and
could adversely affect our company.
Third parties or governmental agencies may view our behavior as anti-competitive
Third parties have in the past and may in the future allege that actions
taken by us violate the antitrust or competition laws of the U.S or other
countries, or otherwise constitute unfair competition. Such claims typically are
very expensive to defend, involve negative publicity and diversion of management
time and effort and could result in significant judgment against us, all of
which would adversely affect us.
We have provided information to the antitrust division of the Department
of Justice in connection with an inquiry into our conduct with respect to
"auction aggregators" including our licensing program and a recently settled
lawsuit against Bidder's Edge. Should the division decide to take action against
us, or should the Department of Justice or any other antitrust agency open other
investigations of our activities, we would likely be harmed by negative
publicity, the costs of the action, possible private antitrust lawsuits, the
diversion of management time and effort and penalties we might suffer if we
ultimately were not to prevail.
Some of our businesses are subject to regulation and others may be in the future
Both Butterfields and Kruse are subject to regulation in some
jurisdictions governing the manner in which live auctions are conducted. Both
are required to obtain licenses in these jurisdictions with respect to their
business or to permit the sale of categories of items (e.g., wine, automobiles
and real estate). These licenses generally must be renewed regularly and are
subject to revocation for violation of law, violation of the regulations
governing auctions in general or the sale of the particular item and other
events. If either company was unable to renew a license or had a license
revoked, its business would be harmed. In addition, changes to the regulations
or the licensure requirements could increase the complexity and the cost of
doing auctions, thereby harming us.
As our activities and the types of goods listed on our site expand, state
regulatory agencies may claim that we are subject to licensure in their
jurisdiction, either with respect to our services in general, or in order to
sell certain types of goods (e.g., real estate, boats, automobiles, etc.). These
claims could result in costly litigation or could require us to change our
manner of doing business in ways that increase our costs or reduce our revenues
or force us to prohibit listings of certain items. We could also be subject to
fines or other penalties. Any of these outcomes could harm our business.
As we have expanded internationally, we have become subject to additional
regulations, including regulations on the transmission of personal information.
These laws may require costly changes to our business practices. If we are found
to have violated any of these laws, we could be subject to fines or penalties,
and our business could be harmed.
Companies that handle payments, including our subsidiaries Billpoint, Half.com.
and Internet Auction, may be subject to additional regulation
The Half.com business model involves the handling of payments by buyers
for the items listed by Half.com's sellers. Internet Auction also has a business
model involving the handling of payments by buyers. Billpoint handles its
customer funds as a provider of Internet payment solutions. Businesses that
handle consumers' funds are subject to numerous regulations, including those
related to banking, credit cards, escrow, fair credit reporting, privacy of
financial records and others. Billpoint is a new business with a relatively
novel approach to facilitating payments. It is not yet known how regulatory
agencies will treat Billpoint. The cost and complexity of Billpoint's business
may increase if certain regulations are deemed to apply to its business. In
addition to the need to comply with these regulations, Billpoint's business is
also subject to risks of fraud, the need to grow systems and processes rapidly
if its products are well received, a high level of competition, including larger
and better financed competitors and the need to coordinate systems and policies
among itself, us and Wells Fargo Bank, which is the provider of payment
services. Similarly, Half.com may be subject to certain regulations regarding
payments and the cost and complexity of its business may increase if these
regulations are deemed to apply to its business.
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We are subject to risks associated with information disseminated through our
service
The law relating to the liability of online services companies for
information carried on or disseminated through their services is currently
unsettled. Claims could be made against online services companies under both
U.S. and foreign law for defamation, libel, invasion of privacy, negligence,
copyright or trademark infringement, or other theories based on the nature and
content of the materials disseminated through their services. Several private
lawsuits seeking to impose liability upon us under a number of these theories
have been brought against us. In addition, federal, state and foreign
legislation has been proposed that imposes liability for or prohibits the
transmission over the Internet of certain types of information. Our service
features a Feedback Forum, which includes information from users regarding other
users. Although all such feedback is generated by users and not by us, it is
possible that a claim of defamation or other injury could be made against us for
content posted in the Feedback Forum. Claims like these become more likely and
have a higher probability of success in jurisdictions outside the U.S. If we
become liable for information provided by our users and carried on our service
in any jurisdiction in which we operate, we could be directly harmed and we may
be forced to implement new measures to reduce our exposure to this liability.
This may require us to expend substantial resources and/or to discontinue
certain service offerings, which would negatively affect our financial results.
In addition, the increased attention focused upon liability issues as a result
of these lawsuits and legislative proposals could harm our reputation or
otherwise impact the growth of our business. Any costs incurred as a result of
this liability or asserted liability could harm our business.
We are subject to intellectual property and other litigation
On April 25, 2000, we were served with a lawsuit, Gentry et.al. v. eBay,
Inc. et.al, filed in Superior Court in San Diego, California. The lawsuit was
filed on behalf of a purported class of eBay users who purchased allegedly
forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. The lawsuit claims we were
negligent in permitting certain named (and other unnamed) defendants to sell
allegedly forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. In addition, the
lawsuit claims we violated California unfair competition law and a section of
the California Civil Code which prohibits "dealers" from selling sports
memorabilia without a "Certificate of Authenticity." On January 26, 2001, the
court issued a ruling dismissing all claims against us in the lawsuit. The court
ruled that our business falls within the safe harbor provisions of 47 USC 230,
which grants Internet service providers such as eBay with immunity from state
claims based on the conduct of third parties. The court also noted that we were
not a "dealer" under California law and thus not required to provide
certificates of authenticity with autographs sold over our site by third
parties. All counts of the plaintiffs' suit were dismissed with prejudice as to
eBay. The plaintiffs have filed an appeal of this ruling. We believe we have
meritorious defenses and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.
On April 25, 2001, our European subsidiaries, eBay GMBH and eBay
International AG, were sued by Montres Rolex S.A. and certain Rolex affiliates
("Rolex") in the regional court of Cologne, Germany. Rolex alleged that our
subsidiary was infringing Rolex's trademarks as result of users selling
counterfeit Rolex watches through our German website. The suit also alleges
unfair competition. Rolex is seeking an order forbidding the sale of Rolex
watches on the website as well as damages. We believe that we have meritorious
defenses against this claim and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.
Other third parties have from time to time claimed, in some cases through
litigation, and others may claim in the future that we have infringed their
past, current or future intellectual property rights. We may become more
vulnerable to such claims as laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
are interpreted by the courts and as we expand into jurisdictions where the
underlying laws with respect to the potential liability of online intermediaries
like ourselves is less favorable. We expect that we will increasingly be subject
to infringement claims as the geographical reach of our services expands. These
claims, whether meritorious or not, could be time-consuming, result in costly
litigation, cause service upgrade delays, require expensive changes in our
methods of doing business or could require us to enter into costly royalty or
licensing agreements, if available. As a result, these claims could harm our
business.
From time to time, we are involved in disputes that arise in the ordinary
course of business. Management believes that the ultimate resolution of these
disputes will not have a material adverse impact on our financial position or
results of operations.
The inability to expand our systems may limit our growth
We seek to generate a high volume of traffic and transactions on our
service. The satisfactory performance, reliability and availability of our
websites, processing systems and network infrastructure are critical to our
reputation and our ability
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to attract and retain large numbers of users. Our revenues depend primarily on
the number of items listed by users, the volume of user transactions that are
successfully completed and the final prices paid for the items listed. We need
to expand and upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems and network
infrastructure both to meet increased traffic on our site and to implement new
features and functions, including those required under our contracts with third
parties. We may be unable to accurately project the rate or timing of increases,
if any, in the use of our service or to expand and upgrade our systems and
infrastructure to accommodate any increases in a timely fashion.
We use internally developed systems to operate our service for transaction
processing, including billing and collections processing. We must continually
improve these systems in order to accommodate the level of use of our websites.
In addition, we may add new features and functionality to our services that
would result in the need to develop or license additional technologies. We
capitalize hardware and software costs associated with this development in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles and include such
amounts in property and equipment. Our inability to add additional software and
hardware or to upgrade our technology, transaction processing systems or network
infrastructure to accommodate increased traffic or transaction volume could have
adverse consequences. These consequences include unanticipated system
disruptions, slower response times, degradation in levels of customer support,
impaired quality of the users' experiences of our service and delays in
reporting accurate financial information. Our failure to provide new features or
functionality also could result in these consequences. We may be unable to
effectively upgrade and expand our systems in a timely manner or to integrate
smoothly any newly developed or purchased technologies with our existing
systems. These difficulties could harm or limit our ability to expand our
business.
Unauthorized break-ins or other assaults on our service could harm our business
Our servers are vulnerable to computer viruses, physical or electronic
break-ins and similar disruptions, which could lead to interruptions, delays,
loss of data, public release of confidential data or the inability to complete
customer transactions. In addition, unauthorized persons may improperly access
our data. We have experienced an unauthorized break-in by a "hacker" who has
stated that he could, in the future, damage or change our system or take
confidential information. We have also experienced "denial of service" type
attacks on our system that have made all or portions of our websites unavailable
for periods of time. These and other types of attacks could harm us. Actions of
this sort may be very expensive to remedy and could damage our reputation and
discourage new and existing users from using our service.
System failures could harm our business
We have experienced system failures from time to time. Our primary website
has been interrupted for periods of up to 22 hours. In addition to placing
increased burdens on our engineering staff, these outages create a flood of user
questions and complaints that need to be addressed by our customer support
personnel. Any unscheduled interruption in our service results in an immediate
loss of revenues that can be substantial and may cause some users to switch to
our competitors. If we experience frequent or persistent system failures, our
reputation and brand could be permanently harmed. We have been taking steps to
increase the reliability and redundancy of our system. These steps are
expensive, reduce our margins and may not be successful in reducing the
frequency or duration of unscheduled downtime.
Substantially all of our computer hardware for operating our services
(other than Half.com) currently is located at the facilities of Exodus
Communications, Inc. in Santa Clara, California and AboveNet Communications, Inc
in San Jose, California. The computer hardware for the Half.com service is
located in the facilities of Level 3 Communications, Inc. in Philadelphia,
Pennsylvania. These systems and operations are vulnerable to damage or
interruption from earthquakes, floods, fires, power loss, telecommunication
failures and similar events. They are also subject to break-ins, sabotage,
intentional acts of vandalism and to potential disruption if the operators of
these facilities have financial difficulties. We do not maintain fully redundant
systems or alternative providers of hosting services, and we do not carry
business interruption insurance sufficient to compensate us for losses that may
occur. Despite any precautions we may take, the occurrence of a natural disaster
or other unanticipated problems at any of the Exodus, AboveNet or Level 3
facilities could result in lengthy interruptions in our services. In addition,
the failure by Exodus, AboveNet or Level 3 to provide our required data
communications capacity could result in interruptions in our service. Any damage
to or failure of our systems could result in interruptions in our service.
Interruptions in our service will reduce our revenues and profits, and our
future revenues and profits will be harmed if our users believe that our system
is unreliable.
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Risks relating to possible California power outages
The State of California is currently experiencing a chronic shortage of
power and, as a result, power outages may occur. Although we have emergency
backup power capabilities at the facilities of Exodus, AboveNet and Level 3, and
limited backup power at our headquarters, repeated or lengthy power outages may
adversely affect our business.
Our stock price has been and may continue to be extremely volatile
The trading price of our common stock has been and is likely to be
extremely volatile. Our stock price could be subject to wide fluctuations in
response to a variety of factors, including the following:
- actual or anticipated variations in our quarterly operating results;
- unscheduled system downtime;
- additions or departures of key personnel;
- announcements of technological innovations or new services by us or
our competitors;
- changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;
- conditions or trends in the Internet and online commerce industries;
- changes in the market valuations of other Internet companies;
- developments in Internet regulation;
- announcements by us or our competitors of significant acquisitions,
strategic partnerships, joint ventures or capital commitments;
- sales of our common stock or other securities in the open market; and
- other events or factors, including these described in this "Risk
Factors" section and others that may be beyond our control.
In addition, the trading price of Internet stocks in general, and ours in
particular, have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations in recent
periods. These fluctuations often have been unrelated or disproportionate to the
operating performance of these companies. Notwithstanding a sharp decline in the
prices of Internet stocks in general, the valuation of our stock remains
extraordinarily high based on conventional valuation standards such as
price-to-earnings and price-to-sales ratios. The trading price of our common
stock has increased enormously from the initial public offering price. This
trading price and valuation may not be sustained. Negative changes in the
public's perception of the prospects of Internet or e-commerce companies have in
the past and may in future depress our stock price regardless of our results.
Other broad market and industry factors may decrease the market price of our
common stock, regardless of our operating performance. Market fluctuations, as
well as general political and economic conditions, such as recession or interest
rate or currency rate fluctuations, also may decrease the market price of our
common stock. In the past, following declines in the market price of a company's
securities, securities class-action litigation often has been instituted.
Litigation of this type, if instituted, could result in substantial costs and a
diversion of management's attention and resources.
New and existing regulations could harm our business
We are subject to the same foreign, federal, state and local laws as other
companies conducting business on the Internet. Today there are relatively few
laws specifically directed towards online services. However, due to the
increasing popularity and use of the Internet and online services, many laws
relating to the Internet are being debated at the state and federal levels (both
in the U.S. and abroad) and it is possible that laws and regulations will be
adopted with respect to the Internet or online services. These laws and
regulations could cover issues such as user privacy, freedom of expression,
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pricing, fraud, content and quality of products and services, taxation,
advertising, intellectual property rights and information security.
Applicability to the Internet of existing laws governing issues such as property
ownership, copyrights and other intellectual property issues, taxation, libel,
obscenity and personal privacy is uncertain. The vast majority of these laws was
adopted prior to the advent of the Internet and related technologies and, as a
result, do not contemplate or address the unique issues of the Internet and
related technologies. Those laws that do reference the Internet, such as the
Digital Millennium Copyright Act and the European Union's Directive on Distance
Selling, are only beginning to be interpreted by the courts and their
applicability and scope are, therefore, uncertain. In addition, numerous states
and foreign jurisdictions, including the State of California, where our
headquarters are located, have regulations regarding how "auctions" may be
conducted and the liability of "auctioneers" in conducting such auctions. No
final legal determination has been made with respect to the applicability of the
California regulations to our business to date and little precedent exists in
this area. Several states are considering imposing these regulations upon us or
our users, which could harm our business. In addition, as the nature of the
products listed by our users change, we may become subject to new regulatory
restrictions.
Several states have proposed legislation that would limit the uses of
personal user information gathered online or require online services to
establish privacy policies. The Federal Trade Commission also has settled
several proceedings regarding the manner in which personal information is
collected from users and provided to third parties. Specific statutes intended
to protect user privacy have been passed in many non-U.S. jurisdictions,
including virtually every non-U.S. jurisdiction in which we currently have a
website. Compliance with these laws, given the tight integration of our systems
across different countries and the need to move data to facilitate transactions
amongst our users (e.g., to payment companies, shipping companies, etc.) is
necessary. Failure to comply could subject us to lawsuits, fines, statutory
damages, adverse publicity and other losses that could harm our business.
Changes to existing laws or the passage of new laws intended to address these
issues could directly affect the way we do business or could create uncertainty
on the Internet. This could reduce demand for our services, increase the cost of
doing business as a result of litigation costs or increased service delivery
costs, or otherwise harm our business. In addition, because our services are
accessible worldwide, and we facilitate sales of goods to users worldwide,
foreign jurisdictions may claim that we are required to comply with their laws.
For example, a French court has recently ruled that a U.S. website must comply
with French laws regarding content. As we have expanded our international
activities, we have become obligated to comply with the laws of the countries in
which we operate. Laws regulating Internet companies outside of the U.S. may be
less favorable then those in the U.S., giving greater rights to consumers,
content owners and users. Compliance may be more costly or may require us to
change our business practices or restrict our service offerings relative to
those in the U.S.. Our failure to comply with foreign laws could subject us to
penalties ranging from fines to bans on our ability to offer our services.
Our business has been seasonal
Our results of operations historically have been somewhat seasonal in
nature because many of our users reduce their activities on our websites during
the Thanksgiving and Christmas holidays and with the onset of good weather. We
have historically experienced our strongest quarter of online growth in our
first fiscal quarter, although our shift to more "practical" items may cause our
seasonal patterns to look more like a typical retailer. Both Butterfields and
Kruse have significant quarter-to-quarter variations in their results of
operations depending on the timing of auctions and the availability of high
quality items from large collections and estates. Butterfields typically has its
best operating results in the traditional fall and spring auction seasons and
has historically incurred operating losses in the first and third quarters.
Kruse typically sees a seasonal peak in operations in the third quarter.
Seasonal or cyclical variations in our business may become more pronounced over
time and may harm our results of operations in the future.
We are dependent on the continued growth of online commerce
The business of selling goods over the Internet, particularly through
personal trading, is new and dynamic. Our future net revenues and profits will
be substantially dependent upon the widespread acceptance of the Internet and
online services as a medium for commerce by consumers. Rapid growth in the use
of and interest in the Internet and online services is a recent phenomenon. This
acceptance and use may not continue. Even if the Internet is accepted, concerns
about fraud, privacy and other problems may mean that a sufficiently broad base
of consumers will not adopt the Internet as a medium of commerce. In particular,
our websites require users to make publicly available personal information that
some potential users may be unwilling to provide. These concerns may increase as
additional publicity over privacy issues on eBay or generally over the Internet
increase. Market acceptance for recently introduced services and products over
the Internet is highly uncertain, and there are few proven services and
products. In order to expand our user base, we must appeal to and acquire
consumers who historically have used traditional means of commerce to purchase
goods. If these consumers prove
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to be less active than our earlier users, and we are unable to gain efficiencies
in our operating costs, including our cost of acquiring new customers, our
business could be adversely impacted.
Our business may be subject to sales and other taxes
We do not collect sales or other similar taxes on goods sold by users
through our service. One or more states may seek to impose sales tax collection
obligations on companies such as ours that engage in or facilitate online
commerce. Several proposals have been made at the state and local level that
would impose additional taxes on the sale of goods and services through the
Internet. These proposals, if adopted, could substantially impair the growth of
e-commerce, and could diminish our opportunity to derive financial benefit from
our activities. In 1998, the U.S. federal government enacted legislation
prohibiting states or other local authorities from imposing new taxes on
Internet commerce for a period of three years. This tax moratorium is scheduled
to end in October 2001 and does not prohibit states or the Internal Revenue
Service from collecting taxes on our income, if any, or from collecting taxes
that are due under existing tax rules. A successful assertion by one or more
states or any foreign country that we should collect sales or other taxes on the
exchange of merchandise on our system would harm our business. Any new taxes
that may be promulgated should the internet tax moratorium not be extended could
also harm our business.
We are dependent on key personnel
Our future performance will be substantially dependent on the continued
services of our senior management and other key personnel. Our future
performance also will depend on our ability to retain and motivate our other
officers and key personnel. The loss of the services of any of our executive
officers or other key employees could harm our business. We do not have
long-term employment agreements with any of our key personnel, and we do not
maintain any "key person" life insurance policies. Our new businesses are all
dependent on attracting and retaining key personnel. The land-based auction
businesses are particularly dependent on specialists and senior management
because of the relationships these individuals have established with sellers who
consign property for sale at auction. We have had some turnover of these
personnel, and continued losses of these individuals could result in the loss of
significant future business and would harm us. In addition, employee turnover
and other labor problems frequently increases during the period following an
acquisition as employees evaluate possible changes in compensation, culture,
reporting relationships and the direction of the business. These labor issues
maybe more severe if employees receive no significant financial return from the
acquisition transaction, as has been the case with several of our recent
acquisitions. Such increased turnover could increase our costs and reduce our
future revenues. Our future success also will depend on our ability to attract,
train, retain and motivate highly skilled technical, managerial, marketing and
customer support personnel. Competition for these personnel is intense,
especially for engineers and other professionals, especially in the San
Francisco Bay Area, and we may be unable to successfully attract, integrate or
retain sufficiently qualified personnel. In making employment decisions,
particularly in the Internet and high-technology industries, job candidates
often consider the value of the stock options they are to receive in connection
with their employment. Fluctuations in our stock price may make it more
difficult to retain and motivate employees whose stock option strike prices are
substantially above current market prices.
Our offline auction businesses need to continue to acquire auction properties
The businesses of Butterfields and Kruse are dependent on the continued
acquisition of high quality auction properties from sellers. Their future
success will depend in part on their ability to maintain an adequate supply of
high quality auction property, particularly fine and decorative arts and
collectibles and collectible automobiles, respectively. There is intense
competition for these pieces with other auction companies and dealers. In
addition, a small number of key senior management and specialists maintain the
relationships with the primary sources of auction property and the loss of any
of these individuals could harm the business of Butterfields and Kruse.
Our offline auction businesses could suffer losses from price guarantees,
advances or rescissions of sales
In order to secure high quality auction properties from sellers,
Butterfields and Kruse may give a guaranteed minimum price or a cash advance to
a seller, based on the estimated value of the property. If the auction proceeds
are less than the amount guaranteed, or less than the amount advanced and the
seller does not repay the difference, the company involved will suffer a loss.
In addition, under certain circumstances a buyer who believes that an item
purchased at auction does not have good title, provenance or authenticity may
rescind the purchase. Under these circumstances, the company involved
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will lose its commissions and fees on the sale even if the seller, in accordance
with the terms and conditions of sale, in turn accepts back the item and returns
the funds he or she received from the sale.
We are subject to the risks of owning real property
In connection with the acquisitions of Kruse and Butterfields we acquired
real property including land, buildings and interests in partnerships holding
land and buildings. We have no experience in managing real property. Ownership
of this property subjects us to new risks, including:
- the possibility of environmental contamination and the costs
associated with fixing any environmental problems;
- adverse changes in the value of these properties, due to interest
rate changes, changes in the neighborhoods in which the properties
are located, or other factors;
- the possible need for structural improvements in order to comply with
zoning, seismic, disability act or other requirements; and
- possible disputes with tenants, partners or others.
Our market is intensely competitive
Depending on the category of product, we currently or potentially compete
with a number of companies serving particular categories of goods as well as
those serving broader ranges of goods. The Internet is a new, rapidly evolving
and intensely competitive area. We expect competition to intensify in the future
as the barriers to entry are relatively low, and current and new competitors can
launch new sites at a nominal cost using commercially available software. Our
broad-based competitors include the vast majority of traditional department and
general merchandise stores as well as emerging online retailers. These include
most prominently: Wal-Mart, Kmart, Target, Sears, Macy's, JC Penney, Costco,
Office Depot, Staples, OfficeMax and Sam's Club as well as Amazon.com, Buy.com,
AOL.com, Yahoo! shopping and MSN.
In addition, we face competition from local, regional and national
specialty retailers and exchanges in each of its categories of products. For
example:
Antiques: Christie's, eHammer, Sotheby's / Sothebys.com, Phillips (LVMH)
Coins & Stamps: Collectors Universe, Heritage, US Mint, Bowers and Morena
Collectibles: Franklin Mint, Go Collect, Collectiblestoday.com,
wizardworld.com, Russ Cochran Comic Art Auctions, All Star Auctions
Musical Instruments: Guitar Center, Sam Ash, Mars Music, Music123.com,
Gbase.com, Harmony-Central.com
Sports Memorabilia: Beckett's, Collectors Universe, Mastro, Leylands,
Superior
Toys, Bean Bag Plush: Amazon.com, KB Toys, ZanyBrainy.com, Wal-Mart.com
Premium Collectibles: Christies, DuPont Registry, Greg Manning Auctions,
iCollector, Lycos / Skinner Auctions, Millionaire.com, Phillips (LVMH),
Sotheby's, Sothebys.com
Automotive (used cars): Autobytel.com, AutoVantage.com, AutoWeb.com,
Barrett-Jackson, CarPoint, Collectorcartraderonline.com, eClassics.com, Edmunds,
CarsDirect.com, Hemmings, imotors.com, vehix.com, newspaper classifieds, used
car dealers
Books, Movies, Music: Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble, Barnesandnoble.com,
Alibris.com, Blockbuster, BMG, Columbia House, Best Buy, CDNow, Express.com,
Emusic.com
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Clothing: Bluefly.com, Dockers.com, FashionMall.com, The Gap, J. Crew,
LandsEnd.com, The Limited, Macy's, The Men's Wearhouse, Ross
Computers & Consumer Electronics: Best Buy, Buy.com, Circuit City,
Compaq, CompUSA, Dell, Egghead, Fry's Electronics, Gateway, The Good Guys,
MicroWarehouse, Shopping.com, 800.com, Computer Discount Warehouse, PC
Connection, computer and consumer electronics retailers
Home & Garden: IKEA, Crate & Barrel, Home Depot, Pottery Barn, Ethan
Allen, Frontgate, Burpee.com
Jewelry: Ashford.com, Mondera.com
Pottery & Glass: Just Glass, Pottery Auction, Go CollectSporting
Goods/Equipment: dsports.com, FogDog.com, Footlocker, Gear.com,
golfclubexchange, MVP.com, PlanetOutdoors.com, Play It Again Sports, REI, Sports
Authority, Sportsline.com
Tickets: Ticketmaster, Tickets.com
Tool/Equipment/Hardware: Home Depot, HomeBase, Amazon.com, Ace Hardware,
OSH
Business-to-Business: Ariba, BidFreight.com, Bid4Assets, BizBuyer.com,
bLiquid.com, Buyer Zone, CloseOutNow.com, Commerce One, Concur Technologies,
DoveBid, FreeMarkets, Iron Planet, labx.com, Oracle, Overstock.com,
PurchasePro.com, RicardoBiz.com, Sabre, SurplusBin.com, Ventro, VerticalNet
Additionally, we face competition from various online auction sites
including: Amazon.com, the Fairmarket Auction Network, Surplus Auction, uBid,
Yahoo! Auctions and a large number of other companies using an auction format
for consumer-to-consumer or business-to-consumer sales. Overseas, we face
competition from Yahoo! Auctions in most countries and from a large number of
regional and national competitors in each country.
The principal competitive factors for eBay include the following:
- ability to attract buyers;
- volume of transactions and selection of goods;
- customer service; and
- brand recognition.
With respect to our online competition, additional competitive factors
include:
- community cohesion and interaction;
- system reliability;
- reliability of delivery and payment;
- website convenience and accessibility;
- level of service fees; and
- quality of search tools.
Some current and potential competitors have longer company operating
histories, larger customer bases and greater brand recognition in other business
and Internet spaces than we do. Some of these competitors also have
significantly greater financial, marketing, technical and other resources. Other
online trading services may be acquired by, receive
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investments from or enter into other commercial relationships with larger,
well-established and well-financed companies. As a result, some of our
competitors with other revenue sources may be able to devote more resources to
marketing and promotional campaigns, adopt more aggressive pricing policies and
devote substantially more resources to website and systems development than we
can. Increased competition may result in reduced operating margins, loss of
market share and diminished value of our brand. Some of our competitors have
offered services for free, and others may do this as well. We may be unable to
compete successfully against current and future competitors.
In order to respond to changes in the competitive environment, we may,
from time to time, make pricing, service or marketing decisions or acquisitions
that could harm our business. For example, we have implemented an insurance
program that generally insures items up to a value of $200, with a $25
deductible, for users with a non-negative feedback rating at no cost to the
user. New technologies may increase the competitive pressures by enabling our
competitors to offer a lower cost service. Some Internet-based applications that
direct Internet traffic to certain websites may channel users to trading
services that compete with us.
Although we have established Internet traffic arrangements with several
large online services and search engine companies, these arrangements may not be
renewed on commercially reasonable terms. Even if these arrangements are
renewed, they may not result in increased usage of our service. In addition,
companies that control access to transactions through network access or Internet
browsers could promote our competitors or charge us substantial fees for
inclusion.
The offline auction business is intensely competitive. Butterfields
competes with two larger and better known auction companies, Sotheby's Holdings,
Inc. and Christie's International plc, as well as numerous regional auction
companies. To the extent that these companies increase their focus on the middle
market properties that form the core of Butterfields' business or in the western
U.S., its business may suffer. Kruse is subject to competition from numerous
regional competitors. In addition, competition with Internet-based auctions may
harm the land-based auction business. Although Billpoint's business is new,
several new companies have entered this space, including competitors who are
offering free services and significant promotional incentives, and large
companies, including banks and credit card companies, are also beginning to
enter this space. Half.com competes directly with online retailers in its
product categories such as Amazon.com, which offers a directly competitive
service, as well as with traditional sellers of used books, videos and CDs,
consumer electronics, sporting goods and other products.
Our business is dependent on the development and maintenance of the Internet
infrastructure
The success of our service will depend largely on the development and
maintenance of the Internet infrastructure. This includes maintenance of a
reliable network backbone with the necessary speed, data capacity and security,
as well as timely development of complementary products, for providing reliable
Internet access and services. The Internet has experienced, and is likely to
continue to experience, significant growth in the numbers of users and amount of
traffic. If the Internet continues to experience increased numbers of users,
increased frequency of use or increased bandwidth requirements, the Internet
infrastructure may be unable to support the demands placed on it. In addition,
the performance of the Internet may be harmed by increased number of users or
bandwidth requirements or by "viruses", "worms" and similar programs. The
Internet has experienced a variety of outages and other delays as a result of
damage to portions of its infrastructure, and it could face outages and delays
in the future. These outages and delays could reduce the level of Internet usage
as well as the level of traffic and the processing transactions on our service.
Our business is subject to online commerce security risks
A significant barrier to online commerce and communications is the secure
transmission of confidential information over public networks. Our security
measures may not prevent security breaches. Our failure to prevent security
breaches could harm our business. Currently, a significant number of our users
authorize us to bill their credit card accounts directly for all transaction
fees charged by us. Billpoint's users routinely provide credit card and other
financial information. We rely on encryption and authentication technology
licensed from third parties to provide the security and authentication
technology to effect secure transmission of confidential information, including
customer credit card numbers. Advances in computer capabilities, new discoveries
in the field of cryptography or other developments may result in a compromise or
breach of the technology used by us to protect customer transaction data. A
number of websites have reported breaches of their security. Any compromise of
our security could harm our reputation and, therefore, our business. In
addition, a party who is able to circumvent our security measures could
misappropriate proprietary information or cause interruptions in our operations.
An individual has claimed to have misappropriated some of our confidential
information by breaking into our
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computer system. We may need to expend significant resources to protect against
security breaches or to address problems caused by breaches. These issues are
likely to become more difficult as we expand the number of places where we
operate. Security breaches could damage our reputation and expose us to a risk
of loss or litigation and possible liability. Our insurance policies carry low
coverage limits, which may not be adequate to reimburse us for losses caused by
security breaches.
We must keep pace with rapid technological change to remain competitive
Our competitive space is characterized by rapidly changing technology,
evolving industry standards, frequent new service and product introductions and
enhancements and changing customer demands. These characteristics are worsened
by the emerging and changing nature of the Internet. Our future success
therefore will depend on our ability to adapt to rapidly changing technologies,
to adapt our services to evolving industry standards and to improve the
performance, features and reliability of our service. Our failure to adapt to
such changes would harm our business. New technologies, such as the development
of a peer-to-peer personal trading technology, could adversely affect us. In
addition, the widespread adoption of new Internet, networking or
telecommunications technologies or other technological changes could require
substantial expenditures to modify or adapt our services or infrastructure.
We need to develop new services, features and functions in order to expand
We plan to expand our operations by developing new or complementary
services, products or transaction formats or expanding the breadth and depth of
services. We may be unable to expand our operations in a cost-effective or
timely manner. Even if we do expand, we may not maintain or increase our overall
acceptance. If we launch a new business or service that is not favorably
received by consumers, it could damage our reputation and diminish the value of
our brand. We anticipate that future services will include pre-trade and
post-trade services.
We are pursuing strategic relationships with third parties to provide many
of these services. Because we use third parties to deliver these services, we
may be unable to control the quality of these services, and our ability to
address problems if any of these third parties fails to perform adequately will
be reduced. Expanding our operations in this manner also will require
significant additional expenses and development, operations and other resources
and will strain our management, financial and operational resources. The lack of
acceptance of any new services could harm our business.
Our growth will depend on our ability to develop our brand
We believe that our historical growth has been largely attributable to
word of mouth. We have benefited from frequent and high visibility media
exposure both nationally and locally. We believe that continuing to strengthen
our brand will be critical to achieving widespread acceptance of our service.
Promoting and positioning our brand will depend largely on the success of our
marketing efforts and our ability to provide high quality services. In order to
promote our brand, we will need to increase our marketing budget and otherwise
increase our financial commitment to creating and maintaining brand loyalty
among users. Brand promotion activities may not yield increased revenues, and
even if they do, any increased revenues may not offset the expenses we incurred
in building our brand. If we do attract new users to our service, they may not
conduct transactions over our service on a regular basis. If we fail to promote
and maintain our brand or incur substantial expenses in an unsuccessful attempt
to promote and maintain our brand, our business would be harmed.
We may be unable to protect or enforce our own intellectual property rights
adequately
We regard the protection of our URLs, copyrights, service marks,
trademarks, trade dress and trade secrets as critical to our success. We rely on
a combination of patent, copyright, trademark, service mark and trade secret
laws and contractual restrictions to protect our proprietary rights in products
and services. We have entered into confidentiality and invention assignment
agreements with our employees and contractors, and nondisclosure agreements with
parties with whom we conduct business in order to limit access to and disclosure
of our proprietary information. These contractual arrangements and the other
steps taken by us to protect our intellectual property may not prevent
misappropriation of our technology or deter independent third-party development
of similar technologies. We pursue the registration of our URLs, trademarks and
service marks in the U.S. and internationally. Effective copyright, service
mark, trademark, trade dress and trade secret protection is very expensive to
maintain and may require litigation. Protection may not be available in every
country in which our services are made available online. Furthermore, we must
also protect our URLs in an increasing number of jurisdictions, a process that
is expensive and may not be successful in every location. We have licensed in
the
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past, and expect to license in the future, certain of our proprietary rights,
such as trademarks or copyrighted material, to third parties. These licensees
may take actions that might diminish the value of our proprietary rights or harm
our reputation. We also rely on certain technologies that we license from third
parties, such as Oracle Corporation, Microsoft and Sun Microsystems Inc., the
suppliers of key database technologies, the operating system and specific
hardware components for our service. These third-party technology licenses may
not continue to be available to us on commercially reasonable terms. The loss of
these technologies could require us to obtain substitute technologies of lower
quality or performance standards or at greater cost.
Some anti-takeover provisions may affect the price of our common stock
The Board of Directors has the authority to issue up to 10,000,000 shares
of preferred stock and to determine the preferences, rights and privileges of
those shares without any further vote or action by the stockholders. The rights
of the holders of common stock may be harmed by the rights of the holders of any
preferred stock that may be issued in the future. Some provisions of our
certificate of incorporation and bylaws could have the effect of making it more
difficult for a third party to acquire a majority of our outstanding voting
stock. These include provisions that provide for a classified board of
directors, prohibit stockholders from taking action by written consent and
restrict the ability of stockholders to call special meetings. We are also
subject to provisions of Delaware law that prohibit us from engaging in any
business combination with any interested stockholder for a period of three years
from the date the person became an interested stockholder, unless certain
conditions are met. This restriction could have the effect of delaying or
preventing a change of control.
We are controlled by certain stockholders, executive officers and directors
Our executive officers and directors (and their affiliates) own nearly 50%
of our outstanding common stock. As a result, they have the ability to
effectively control our company and direct our affairs and business, including
the election of directors and approval of significant corporate transactions.
This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying, deferring or
preventing a change in control of our company and may make some transactions
more difficult or even impossible without the support of these stockholders. Any
of these events could decrease the market price of our common stock.
ITEM 3: QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK
INTEREST RATE RISK
The primary objective of our investment activities is to preserve
principal while at the same time maximizing yields without significantly
increasing risk. To achieve this objective, we maintain our portfolio of cash
equivalents, short-term and long-term investments in a variety of securities,
including both government and corporate obligations and money market funds.
These securities are generally classified as available for sale and consequently
are recorded on the balance sheet at fair value with unrealized gains or losses
reported as a separate component of accumulated other comprehensive income, net
of estimated tax.
Investments in both fixed rate and floating rate interest earning
instruments carry varying degrees of interest rate risk. Fixed rate securities
may have their fair market value adversely impacted due to a rise in interest
rates. In general, longer dated securities are subject to greater interest rate
risk than shorter dated securities. While floating rate securities generally are
subject to less interest rate risk than fixed rate securities, floating rate
securities may produce less income than expected if interest rates decrease. Due
in part to these factors, our investment income may fall short of expectations
or we may suffer losses in principal if securities are sold that have declined
in market value due to changes in interest rates. As of June 30, 2001, our fixed
income investments earned a pretax yield of approximately 5.1% and had a
weighted average maturity of 0.2 years. If interest rates were to
instantaneously increase (decrease) by 100 basis points using a duration
modeling technique, the fair market value of the total investment portfolio
could decrease (increase) by approximately $1.9 million. Assuming an average
investment balance of $750 million, if rates were to increase (decrease) by 100
basis points, this would translate to an increase (decrease) in interest income
of $7.5 million annually.
We entered into two interest rate swaps on June 19 and July 20, 2000 with
notional amounts totaling $95 million to reduce the impact of changes in
interest rates on a portion of the floating rate operating lease for our
facilities. The interest rate swaps allow for us to receive floating rate
receipts based on LIBOR in exchange for making fixed rate payments. This
effectively changes our interest rate exposure on our operating lease from a
floating rate to a fixed rate on $95 million of
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the total $126.4 million operating lease. Of the $126.4 million operating lease,
the interest rate is fixed on $95 million, with the balance of $31.4 million
remaining at a floating rate of interest based on the spread over 3-month LIBOR.
If the 3-month LIBOR rates were to increase (decrease) by 100 basis points, then
our lease payments would increase (decrease) by $78,000 per quarter.
EQUITY PRICE RISK
We are exposed to equity price risk on the marketable portion of equity
investments we hold, typically as the result of strategic investments in
strategic partners as such investments are subject to considerable market risk
due to their volatility. We typically do not attempt to reduce or eliminate our
market exposure in these equity investments.
FOREIGN CURRENCY RISK
International sales are made mostly from our sales in the respective
countries by our foreign subsidiaries and are typically denominated in the local
currency of each country. These subsidiaries also incur most of their expenses
in the local currency. Accordingly, all foreign subsidiaries use the local
currency as their functional currency. Our international business is subject to
risks typical of an international business, including, but not limited to
differing economic conditions, changes in political climate, differing tax
structures, other regulations and restrictions, and foreign exchange rate
volatility. Accordingly, our future results could be materially adversely
impacted by changes in these or other factors. These financial statements are
typically denominated in the functional currency of the foreign subsidiary in
order to centralize foreign exchange risk with the parent company in the U.S. We
are also exposed to foreign exchange rate fluctuations as the financial results
of foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars in consolidation. As
exchange rates vary, these results, when translated, may vary from expectations
and adversely impact overall expected profitability.
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PART II: OTHER INFORMATION
ITEM 1: LEGAL PROCEEDINGS
On April 25, 2000, we were served with a lawsuit, Gentry et.al. v. eBay,
Inc. et.al, filed in Superior Court in San Diego, California. The lawsuit was
filed on behalf of a purported class of eBay users who purchased allegedly
forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. The lawsuit claims we were
negligent in permitting certain named (and other unnamed) defendants to sell
allegedly forged autographed sports memorabilia on eBay. In addition, the
lawsuit claims we violated California unfair competition law and a section of
the California Civil Code which prohibits "dealers" from selling sports
memorabilia without a "Certificate of Authenticity." On January 26, 2001, the
court issued a ruling dismissing all claims against us in the lawsuit. The court
ruled that our business falls within the safe harbor provisions of 47 USC 230,
which grants Internet service providers such as eBay with immunity from state
claims based on the conduct of third parties. The court also noted that we were
not a "dealer" under California law and thus not required to provide
certificates of authenticity with autographs sold over our site by third
parties. All counts of the plaintiffs' suit were dismissed with prejudice as to
eBay. Plaintiffs have filed an appeal of this ruling. We believe we have
meritorious defenses and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.
On April 25, 2001, our European subsidiaries, eBay GMBH and eBay
International AG, were sued by Montres Rolex S.A. and certain Rolex affiliates
("Rolex") in the regional court of Cologne, Germany. Rolex alleged that our
subsidiary was infringing Rolex's trademarks as result of users selling
counterfeit Rolex watches through our German website. The suit also alleges
unfair competition. Rolex is seeking an order forbidding the sale of Rolex
watches on the website as well as damages. We believe that we have meritorious
defenses against this claim and intend to defend ourselves vigorously.
Other third parties have from time to time claimed, in some cases through
litigation, and others may claim in the future that we have infringed their
past, current or future intellectual property rights. We may become more
vulnerable to such claims as laws such as the Digital Millennium Copyright Act
are interpreted by the courts and we expand into jurisdictions where the
underlying laws with respect to the potential liability of our online
intermediaries like ourselves is less favorable. We expect that we will
increasingly be subject to infringement claims as the geographical reach of our
services expands. These claims, whether meritorious or not, could be
time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause service upgrade delays,
require expensive changes in our methods of doing business or could require us
to enter into costly royalty or licensing agreements, if available. As a result,
these claims could harm our business.
From time to time, we are involved in disputes arise in the ordinary
course of business. Management believes that the ultimate resolution of these
disputes will not have a material adverse impact on our consolidated financial
position, results of operations or cash flows.
ITEM 2: CHANGES IN SECURITIES AND USE OF PROCEEDS
On May 18, 2001, we completed our previously announced acquisition of
iBazar S.A., a French company that introduced online person-to-person trading in
France and currently has websites in Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, the
Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. iBazar was acquired pursuant to a
Contribution Agreement, dated February 21, 2001, by and among eBay, a
wholly-owned Belgian subsidiary of eBay ("eBay Sub") and seven shareholders of
iBazar (collectively, the "Shareholders"). In exchange for the contribution of
the Shareholders' shares of iBazar to eBay Sub, we issued shares in eBay Sub
exchangeable for 2,045,054 shares of our common stock. This transaction was
exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities Act pursuant to
Section 4(2) thereof or Rule 506 of the rules and regulations thereunder.
On June 1, 2001, we issued 24,194 shares of our common stock to John
Slocum, the former owner of Blackthorne Software, as a portion of the
consideration for the sale to us in December 1999 of the Blackthorne business.
This transaction was exempt from the registration requirements of the Securities
Act pursuant to Section 4(2) or Rule 505 of the rules and regulations
thereunder.
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ITEM 3: DEFAULTS UPON SENIOR SECURITIES
Not applicable.
ITEM 4: SUBMISSION OF MATTERS TO A VOTE OF SECURITY HOLDERS
We held our Annual Meeting of Stockholders on May 25, 2001. The following
is a brief description of each matter voted upon at the meeting and the number
of votes cast for, withheld, or against and the number of abstentions with
respect to each matter. The two directors proposed by eBay for re-election were
elected to new, three-year terms by the following vote:
DIRECTOR NAME DIRECTOR SHARES VOTED FOR SHARES WITHHELD AUTHORITY
- ------------- ------------------------- -------------------------
Philippe Bourguignon 246,174,605 216,773
Margaret C. Whitman 234,475,302 11,916,076
The stockholders approved our 2001 Equity Incentive Plan: shares voted
for: 212,058,684; shares voted against: 33,935,549; shares abstaining: 397,145.
The stockholders approved the appointment of the auditors: shares voted
for: 244,383,462; shares voted against: 1,938,402; shares abstaining: 69,514.
ITEM 5: OTHER INFORMATION
Not applicable.
ITEM 6: EXHIBITS AND REPORTS ON FORM 8-K
(a) Exhibits.
10.15 Retention Bonus Plan between Registrant and Maynard Webb, dated
January 10, 2001 (Corrected)*
10.20 Retention Bonus Plan between Registrant and Jeffrey D. Jordan,
dated April 3, 2001
*Corrects the first three payment amounts that had been incorrectly
calculated under the Retention Bonus Plan for Maynard Webb, dated January
10, 2001, previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's 10-K for the
fiscal year ended December 31, 2000.
(b) Reports on Form 8-K.
On June 1, 2001, we filed a report on Form 8-K announcing we had completed
our acquisition of iBazar.
On June 15, 2001, we filed an amended report on Form 8-K/A providing the
historical financial statements of iBazar S.A., and related unaudited pro forma
financial information.
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SIGNATURES
In accordance with the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act, the
Registrant has caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned,
thereunto duly authorized.
eBay INC.
Date: August 13, 2001
PRINCIPAL EXECUTIVE OFFICER: PRINCIPAL FINANCIAL OFFICER
By: /s/ MARGARET C. WHITMAN By: /s/ RAJIV DUTTA
------------------------------ -------------------------------------
Margaret C. Whitman Rajiv Dutta
President and Chief Financial Officer
Chief Executive Officer
PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING OFFICER:
By: /s/ MARK J. RUBASH
------------------------------
Mark J. Rubash
Vice President, Finance and
Chief Accounting Officer
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EXHIBIT INDEX
Exhibits
- --------
10.15 Retention Bonus Plan between Registrant and Maynard Webb, dated
January 10, 2001 (Corrected)*
10.20 Retention Bonus Plan between Registrant and Jeffrey D. Jordan,
dated April 3, 2001
*Corrects the first three payment amounts that had been incorrectly calculated
under the Retention Bonus Plan for Maynard Webb, dated January 10, 2001,
previously filed as an Exhibit to the Registrant's 10-K for the fiscal year
ended December 31, 2000.