Banking, finance, and taxes

Why PayPal Is Pushing New All-Time Highs

Chris Lange

Published: October 20, 2017 8:45 am

Last Updated: January 12, 2020 6:59 am

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) reported its third-quarter financial results after the markets closed on Thursday. The stock was indicated to hit an all-time high on the record numbers and customer growth.

The online payment processer said that it had $0.46 in earnings per share (EPS) and $3.24 billion in revenue, compared with consensus estimates from Thomson Reuters of $0.43 in EPS and revenue of $3.18 billion. In the same period of last year, PayPal posted EPS of $0.35 and $2.67 billion in revenue.

During this quarter, PayPal noted 8.2 million active customer accounts added, with net new actives up 88%. This makes a total of 218 million active customer accounts, with more than 17 million merchant accounts.

Also, the company processed 1.9 billion payment transactions, an increase of 26% from last year. On average there were 32.8 payment transactions per active account on a trailing 12 months basis, an increase of 9%.

Third-quarter total payment volume increased 30% to $114 billion, or 29% on an FX-neutral basis.

In terms of guidance for the fourth quarter, PayPal expects to see EPS in the range of $0.50 to $0.52 and revenues between $3.57 billion and $3.63 billion on a FX-neutral basis. The consensus estimates call for $0.51 in EPS and $3.56 billion in revenue.

Dan Schulman, president and CEO of PayPal, commented:

PayPal delivered one of its strongest quarters since becoming an independent company. Putting our customers first in everything we do, enhancing our suite of products and services, and partnering with some of the world’s most popular brands are delivering tangible results. In addition to our solid financial performance, we also reported record customer growth with the addition of 8.2 million net new actives. As the world rapidly accelerates to digital payments, we have a tremendous opportunity in front of us.

Shares of PayPal closed Thursday at $67.25, with a consensus analyst price target of $69.80 and a 52-week range of $38.06 to $69.61. Following the release, the stock was up about 6% at $71.12 in early trading indications Friday.