Ebay Inc on Tuesday posted a quarterly net profit and revenue that beat Wall Street expectations, and shares rose more than 3 percent.

The company, which connects sellers and buyers online through auctions and fixed-price sales, gave a third-quarter profit forecast in line with analysts' estimates.

EBay also includes Web payments unit PayPal and Internet telephone company Skype, which it is trying to spin off, likely next year.

Second-quarter net profit was $327.3 million, or 25 cents per share, from $460 million, or 35 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, eBay earned 37 cents per share, a penny above the 36 cents per share expected, on average, by analysts, according to Reuters Estimates.

Revenue fell 4 percent to $2.1 billion -- above the $1.99 billion, or 9 percent drop, expected by Wall Street. The company's marketplaces division saw a 14 percent drop in revenue while sales in fast-growing PayPal jumped 11 percent.

Sluggish growth at eBay's marketplaces division -- which began with online auctions but now encompasses classifieds, fixed price sales and shopping sites -- has kept shares of eBay pressured, and the company has pointed to fast-growing PayPal as its future growth driver.

Operating margins fell to 19.6 in the quarter from 24.8 percent a year earlier, the company said, hurt by the effect of the stronger U.S. dollar against foreign currencies.

EBay said it expects third-quarter adjusted earnings per share in a range of 34 to 36 cents per share, compared with the 35 cents per share expected by Wall Street.

Shares in eBay rose 3.3 percent to $20.10 after closing on the Nasdaq at $19.45, up 2.75 percent in the regular session.

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Gary Hill)

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