William Blair Issues Optimistic Estimate for PayPal Earnings

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) – Equities researchers at William Blair increased their Q3 2024 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of PayPal in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, October 15th. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now anticipates that the credit services provider will earn $1.13 per share for the quarter, up from their previous estimate of $1.04. William Blair currently has a “Hold” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for PayPal’s current full-year earnings is $4.42 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for PayPal’s Q4 2024 earnings at $1.19 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $4.58 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $1.20 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $1.23 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.22 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.35 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $5.00 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.52 EPS.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 30th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.99 by $0.20. PayPal had a return on equity of 22.82% and a net margin of 14.30%. The company had revenue of $7.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $7.82 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.83 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.2% compared to the same quarter last year.

A number of other research firms have also commented on PYPL. Macquarie increased their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered PayPal from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $75.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. Daiwa America upgraded PayPal from a “moderate buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on PayPal from $77.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 20th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their price target on PayPal from $71.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Seventeen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $77.52.

PayPal Trading Down 1.2 %

PYPL stock opened at $79.82 on Thursday. PayPal has a 1-year low of $50.25 and a 1-year high of $82.00. The firm has a market cap of $83.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 1.44. The business’s 50 day moving average is $73.83 and its 200-day moving average is $66.50. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of PYPL. Primecap Management Co. CA raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 180.7% in the 2nd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 4,946,460 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $287,043,000 after purchasing an additional 3,184,160 shares during the period. Clearbridge Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 28.1% in the 2nd quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 8,511,242 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $493,907,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,925 shares during the period. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. raised its stake in shares of PayPal by 31.1% in the 1st quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 2,899,859 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $194,262,000 after purchasing an additional 687,940 shares during the period. Swedbank AB acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the first quarter valued at about $42,297,000. Finally, Greenvale Capital LLP increased its position in shares of PayPal by 24.4% in the second quarter. Greenvale Capital LLP now owns 2,675,000 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $155,230,000 after acquiring an additional 525,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

About PayPal

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers worldwide. It operates a two-sided network at scale that connects merchants and consumers that enables its customers to connect, transact, and send and receive payments through online and in person, as well as transfer and withdraw funds using various funding sources, such as bank accounts, PayPal or Venmo account balance, PayPal and Venmo branded credit products comprising its installment products, credit and debit cards, and cryptocurrencies, as well as other stored value products, including gift cards and eligible rewards.