EBay holiday-quarter revenue up 3.1%, shares jump

Tough going: EBay Inc is facing intense competition from Amazon.com Inc and has also been hit by brick-and-mortar rivals like Wal-Mart Stores Inc that are aggressively boosting their online presence. — Reuters

EBay Inc reported a 3.1% rise in quarterly revenue for the fourth-quarter holiday period, offering signs of improvement at the company's traditional marketplace business and sending shares up more than 8% in extended trading on Jan 25.

EBay, once synonymous with online auctions, has been revamping its platform to help it compete better with bigger e-commerce rival Amazon.com Inc as well as traditional retailers. Fixed-price goods now make up a much larger portion of its listings than previously.