Shares of PayPal plunged Tuesday even though the company reported first-quarter earnings, revenue and total payment volume that topped views. What hurt PayPal stock is that Wall Street seemed unimpressed with the size of the company's raised 2023 outlook.
PayPal stock plunged 12.7% to close at 65.91 on the stock market today.
For the quarter ended March 31, PayPal earnings rose 33% from a year earlier to $1.17 per share. The digital payments company said revenue climbed 9% to $7.04 billion, topping estimates by about 1%. PayPal reported earnings late Monday.
Analysts expected PayPal earnings of $1.10 a share on revenue of $6.98 billion. A year earlier, PayPal earned 88 cents a share on sales of $6.48 billion.
Total payment volume processed from merchant customers climbed 10% to $354.5 billion. Analysts had projected total payment volume of $344.8 billion.
Meanwhile, PayPal updated its 2023 earnings outlook. The company predicted adjusted earnings growth of about 20% to $4.95 a share, including the first-quarter beat. Its earlier view called for 19% growth to about $4.87.
In a note to clients, Jefferies analyst Trevor Williams said the size of PayPal's guidance came in mixed.
"Fiscal year EPS raised on outlook for higher revenue as margin outlook was lowered," he said.
PayPal Stock: Total Payment Volume Up
San Jose, Calif.-based PayPal has evolved from an online checkout site to a mobile shopping and person-to-person payments site. Competition has heated up with Square-parent Block and others.
After plunging 62% last year, PayPal stock has advanced 5% thus far in 2023 heading into the earnings report.
Meanwhile, the company announced a $15 billion share buyback program in August.
In addition, PayPal in January announced plans to cut 2,000 jobs, or about 7% of its workforce.
PayPal stock has retreated from an all-time high of 310.16 on July 26, 2021. Shares hold a Relative Strength Rating of only 43 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.
Follow Reinhardt Krause on Twitter @reinhardtk_tech for updates on 5G wireless, artificial intelligence, cybersecurity and cloud computing.
