Speaker 1: PayPal Holding stock is trading near seventy dollars and sixty
Speaker 1: cents United States currency this Thursday morning, following a quarterly
Speaker 1: earnings report that showed solid performance and improving profitability. Trading
Speaker 1: volume appears elevated as investors digest the news and compare
Speaker 1: today's interest with an average day. Recently, PayPal surprised analysts
Speaker 1: by delivering eight billion, four hundred twenty million dollars in
Speaker 1: quarterly revenue and earnings per share of one dollar thirty
Speaker 1: four cents, beating expectations and marking a seven point three
Speaker 1: per cent increase in revenue from the same period last year.
Speaker 1: This momentum is fueling optimism about PayPal's ongoing transformation on
Speaker 1: a chief executive officer Alex Cress, as the company pivots
Speaker 1: from stabilizing its business to pursuing aggressive growth. Then Mo
Speaker 1: and buy now Pay Later are central to PayPal strategy,
Speaker 1: with then most transaction volume up forty percent and buy
Speaker 1: now Pay Later surging twenty percent year over year. PayPal
Speaker 1: processed four hundred fifty eight billion dollars in total payment
Speaker 1: volume last quarter, with branded checkout and enterprise payments also
Speaker 1: showing strong growth. Adjusted earnings per share moved up twelve
Speaker 1: percent year on year, and PayPal's own guidance projects fifteen
Speaker 1: percent earnings growth this year with expanding transaction margins through
Speaker 1: twenty twenty six. Analyst sentiment is mixed, but leaning positive.
Speaker 1: Most experts now rate PayPal as a moderate buy or hold,
Speaker 1: with the average price target ranging from about seventy nine
Speaker 1: dollars to eighty three dollars United States currency, suggesting upside
Speaker 1: for those entering at current levels. Some watchdogs are more bullish,
Speaker 1: with a few price targets set as high as one
Speaker 1: hundred seven dollars, while others remain cautious, especially given recent
Speaker 1: downgrades by some firms such as Goldman Sachs that now
Speaker 1: recommend selling but have modestly raised their price target to
Speaker 1: seventy two dollars. Argus has also lifted its price target
Speaker 1: to eighty seven dollars, and Keith briet and Woods set
Speaker 1: a fresh target at ninety dollars. There have been notable
Speaker 1: insider sales and ongoing competitive pressures from other fintech firms,
Speaker 1: but the current valuation is generally seen as attractive compared
Speaker 1: to the company's historical averages and peer group PayPal is
Speaker 1: trading well below its five year median valuation and offers
Speaker 1: upside if the market begins to recognize recent growth initiatives
Speaker 1: and partnerships, including those related to artificial intelligence. Looking ahead,
Speaker 1: PayPal forecasts transaction margin growth of six to seven percent
Speaker 1: next year and expects VENMO revenue to reach two billion
Speaker 1: United States currency by twenty twenty seven. The outlook for
Speaker 1: the stock hinges on the success of these efforts and
Speaker 1: can continued execution in a crowded payments landscape