William Blair Issues Negative Outlook for PayPal Earnings

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) – Research analysts at William Blair reduced their Q1 2025 earnings per share estimates for shares of PayPal in a report issued on Tuesday, February 25th. William Blair analyst A. Jeffrey now forecasts that the credit services provider will earn $1.18 per share for the quarter, down from their prior forecast of $1.19. The consensus estimate for PayPal’s current full-year earnings is $5.03 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for PayPal’s Q4 2025 earnings at $1.42 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $5.75 EPS.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The credit services provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.11 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $8.37 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.27 billion. PayPal had a net margin of 13.04% and a return on equity of 23.67%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.48 earnings per share.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on PYPL. Barclays increased their price target on PayPal from $92.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America raised PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $86.00 to $103.00 in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods lifted their price target on shares of PayPal from $92.00 to $104.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, December 9th. Phillip Securities reissued an “accumulate” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $80.00) on shares of PayPal in a research report on Friday, November 1st. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of PayPal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 24th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $90.55.

PayPal Price Performance

PYPL opened at $72.05 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $71.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.44. PayPal has a 12 month low of $56.97 and a 12 month high of $93.66. The company has a quick ratio of 1.26, a current ratio of 1.26 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $84.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $80.96.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On PayPal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. LM Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in PayPal by 27.4% in the 4th quarter. LM Advisors LLC now owns 14,705 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,255,000 after purchasing an additional 3,160 shares during the period. Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of PayPal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $397,000. Ascent Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 76.1% in the fourth quarter. Ascent Group LLC now owns 4,544 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $388,000 after buying an additional 1,964 shares during the period. AlphaCore Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of PayPal by 123.2% in the fourth quarter. AlphaCore Capital LLC now owns 11,851 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,011,000 after buying an additional 6,542 shares during the period. Finally, Forum Financial Management LP raised its holdings in PayPal by 154.6% in the 4th quarter. Forum Financial Management LP now owns 14,512 shares of the credit services provider’s stock valued at $1,239,000 after acquiring an additional 8,813 shares in the last quarter. 68.32% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

PayPal Company Profile

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.