AOL earnings reflect e-tail strength

The online giant beats Wall Street's expectations by 3 cents per share, boosted by strong revenue flow from holiday e-commerce activity. Analysts see AOL's numbers as an indicator of the state of the consumer e-commerce space overall, and Amazon and eBay's numbers seem to support that theory.

AOL beats expectations, splits stock update Boosted by strong subscription growth, the online giant's quarterly earnings beat Wall Street estimates as its stock splits. eBay, Amazon.com surge on earnings update Shares of auctioneer eBay and bookseller Amazon.com surge after exceeding fourth-quarter earnings and sales expectations. E-commerce results tell the tale news analysis So far, the quarterly numbers from e-commerce companies are confirming the predictions: Americans are streaming onto the Net to buy. AOL to get windfall from Excite stock update America Online expects to end the quarter with more than $2 billion of cash after selling $500 million of shares in emerging rival Excite. Qwest signs $13 million deal with AOL Qwest signs a $13 million multiyear contract with AOL, to provide increased Internet communications services nationwide.