Jan 20 - eBay Inc's strong 2011 forecast indicates signs of progress in its marketplaces unit, analysts said, and raised their price targets on the company's stock.

Mario Cantone hosts eBay's "Let's Make A Daily Deal" game show at Times Square Studios in New York City

The company, which also owns fast-growing Web payments unit PayPal, reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter results on Wednesday. "Consistent with our view, the results showed healthy revenue growth at PayPal, augmented by operating leverage, and signs of progress in Marketplace," Credit Suisse analyst Spencer Wang said in a note to clients.

At least five brokerage firms raised their price targets on eBay on strong results and outlook.

The analysts were bullish on the company's gross merchandise volume, a closely watched measure of the total value of goods sold, which rose 6 percent.

If the average selling price improves or stabilizes, GMV in U.S, which is below the overall GMV could see a lift, BofA Merrill Lynch analysts said in a note.

However, J.P. Morgan analyst Imran Khan said the tepid GMV growth in the U.S. market shows eBay is still underperforming the broader eCommerce market.

(Reporting by NR Sethuraman in Bangalore; Editing by Vyas Mohan)