-- Shares in eBay (NASDAQ:) rose in premarket U.S. trading on Wednesday after the e-commerce group reported better-than-expected earnings guidance and fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates despite facing a "challenging" macroeconomic environment.

For the three months ended Dec. 31, the e-commerce company  adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.07 on revenue of $2.6B. Analysts polled by had anticipated EPS of $1.03 on revenue of $2.51B. According to Reuters, Chief Financial Officer Stephen Priest said the business was boosted by improved demand towards the end of November, "particularly in the U.S., driven by consumers looking for value to stretch their limited holiday budgets."

But gross merchandise volume, a key performance metric, was flat at $18.6B on a foreign exchange-neutral basis as the firm said it was "navigating a challenging macroeconomic environment." In a presentation, eBay added that it expects the gauge to turn positive in the third or fourth quarter of this year.

For the first quarter, the e-commerce platform guided for adjusted EPS in a range of $1.19 to $1.23 on revenue of $2.50B to $2.54B. That compared with forecasts for an outlook of $1.13 and $2.53B, respectively.

eBay also announced an additional $3B stock buyback program and increased its quarterly dividend for the first quarter by 8% to $0.27 per share.

"Coming out of these results, we expect that investors debates will remain centered around how a mixture of near-term macro volatility and competitive dynamics measures against the company’s framing of a return to positive GMV growth in [the second half of 2024]," analysts at Goldman Sachs said in a note to clients.

Yasin Ebrahim contributed to this report.