After-Hours News: eBay Inc (EBAY), Facebook Inc (FB), Qualcomm Inc (QCOM), AT&T Inc (T)

After the closing bell Wednesday, shares of eBay Inc. rallied more than 4 percent on strong sales, while social networking giant Facebook Inc. posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years. Meanwhile, Qualcomm Inc.'s profit plunged 46 percent last quarter, sending shares down around 2 percent after the closing bell.

U.S. stocks closed sharply higher Wednesday, with the Nasdaq composite coming within 13 points of its all-time closing high of 5,048.62, last seen during the dot-com bubble in 2000. The Dow (INDEXDJX:.DJI) climbed 88.68 points, or 0.49 percent, to close at 18,038.27. The Standard & Poor's 500 (INDEXNASDAQ:.IXIC) added 10.67 points, or 0.51 percent, to finish at 2,107.96. The Nasdaq composite (INDEXSP:.INX) rose 21.07 points, or 0.42 percent, to end at 5,035.17.

eBay Revenue Boosted By PayPal in Q1

Shares of eBay Inc. (NASDAQ:EBAY) rallied more than 4 percent after the e-commerce giant posted quarterly revenue that rose 4.4 percent from a year ago, boosted by a 14 percent jump in sales from its payments business. The company also announced it will spin off its payment unit PayPal in the third quarter.

The San Jose, California-based company reported first-quarter net income of $626 million, or earnings per share of 51 cents, on revenue of $4.45 billion, compared with a loss of $2.32 billion, or earnings per share loss of $1.82, on revenue of $4.26 billion. For the quarter ended Dec. 31, sales from eBay's payments business rose to $2.11 billion.

Ebay was forecast to report first-quarter net income of $535.85, or earnings per share of 43 cents, on revenue of $4.4 billion. The e-commerce company had reported a first-quarter loss of $2.3 billion a year earlier due to a tax charge on foreign earnings.

Shares of eBay have gained more than 5 percent in the last 12 months.

Facebook User Growth Larger Than Population Of China

Shares of Facebook Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) dropped nearly 3 percent in extended-hours trading after the social networking company posted its slowest quarterly revenue growth in two years, falling short of Wall Street forecasts. However, the company announced the number of monthly active users rose 13 percent to 1.44 billion from a year earlier, larger than the population of China.

Facebook turned in first-quarter net income of $673.05 million, or earnings per share of 23 cents, on revenue of $3.54 billion, compared with a profit of $642 million, or earnings per share of 25 cents, on revenue of $2.5 billion.The company was forecast to report first-quarter net income of $509.81 million or earnings per share of 18 cents, on revenue of $3.56 billion, according to analysts polled by Thomson Reuters.

Facebook's stock has rallied more than 45 percent in the last 12 months.

Qualcomm Profit Plunges 46%

Qualcomm Inc. (NASDAQ:QCOM) topped earnings and revenue forecasts last quarter, but the chipmaker’s revenue outlook for the current quarter came up short of analysts’ forecasts, sending shares tumbling around 2 percent in after-hours trading. The company also slashed its annual earnings forecast for the second time this year, due to declining sales of its Snapdragon chips.

Qualcomm's fiscal second-quarter net income dropped 46 percent to $1.05 billion, or earnings per share of 63 cents, on revenue of $6.89 billion, compared with a profit of $1.96 billion, or earnings per share of $1.14, on revenue of $6.37 billion a year ago. Wall Street had expected Qualcomm to report fiscal second-quarter net income of $1.65 billion, or earnings per share of 98 cents, on revenue of $6.83 billion.

Shares of Qualcomm have tumbled more than 11 percent in the last 12 months.

AT&T Beats Earnings Estimates

AT&T Inc. (NYSE:T) quarterly profit beat estimates, sending shares up 1.5 after the closing bell. Meanwhile, revenue came up just short of forecasts. The company also said it had added 441,000 postpaid subscribers and 1.2 million net wireless additions in the quarter.

AT&T reported first-quarter net income of $3.2 billion, or earnings per share of 61 cents, on revenue of $32.58 billion, compared with a profit of $3.65 billion, or earnings per shares of 70 cents, on sales of $32.48 billion a year earlier. The company was expected to report first-quarter net income of $3.26 billion, or earnings per share of 63 cents, on revenue of $32.84 billion.

Shares of AT&T have lost 5 percent in the last 12 months.