PayPal Lifts Full-Year Outlook, CEO Stresses Turnaround Plan
Dow Jones2026/10/27 11:00By Elias Schisgall
PayPal Holdings lifted its full-year outlook and reported higher revenue in the third quarter as the financial-technology company looks to persuade investors that it can grow and thrive as an independent entity.
The results follow months of speculation about a possible PayPal takeover. Rival fintech Stripe and Advent International offered to buy the company for $60.50 a share this summer, The Wall Street Journal has reported, but a deal has yet to materialize.
Enrique Lores, who became PayPal's chief executive in March, reiterated that while the company will evaluate any merger or acquisition proposal, he remains focused on executing PayPal's turnaround. He said the company will be targeting earnings-per-share growth in the double-digits.
"We are positive with the results that we delivered, but this is a multi-year process. This is only the beginning," Lores said in an interview. "We are optimistic, but there is much more work to do."
Lores said the third-quarter results and lifted outlook should build confidence in the company's execution and strategy, which involves providing a broader set of consumer financial services through Venmo.
"We acknowledge that in the last few years, we have dedicated a lot of time to merchants and a lot of investment to merchants," Lores said. "We are investing now in the consumer side to drive growth across the board."
The financial technology company on Tuesday said it now expects full-year adjusted earnings of around $5.60 a share, up from a previous view of around $5.38 a share. Analysts polled by FactSet currently expect $5.39 a share.
It also projected transaction margin dollars, a closely watched profitability metric, reaching around $15.7 billion for the full-year, up from previous guidance for around $15.6 billion.
For the current fourth quarter, PayPal guided for adjusted earnings of around $1.43 a share. Analysts are expecting $1.35 a share. The company also projected slightly positive transaction margin dollar growth in the fourth quarter.
PayPal reported a third-quarter profit of $1.07 billion, or $1.25 a share, compared with a profit of $1.25 billion, or $1.30 a share, a year prior.
Stripping out certain one-time items, adjusted earnings were $1.45 a share. Analysts were expecting $1.31 a share.
Revenue grew to $8.58 billion from $8.42 billion, below analyst expectations for $8.71 billion.
Transaction margin dollars were up 2% to $3.95 billion, including what the company described as strong contributions from Venmo and Braintree, PayPal's unbranded checkout business. Total payment volume rose 6% to $487.14 billion.
Write to Elias Schisgall at elias.schisgall@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
October 27, 2026 07:00 ET (11:00 GMT)
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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