PayPal - A look at Elon Musk's former company before results

PayPal was founded in 1998 and went public on February 15, 2002. PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates a technology platform that enables digital payments on behalf of merchants and consumers around the world. The company provides payment solutions under the names PayPal, PayPal Credit, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, PayPal Zettle, Hyperwallet, PayPal Honey and Paidy. Its payments platform allows consumers to send and receive payments in approximately 200 markets and approximately 150 currencies, withdraw funds to bank accounts in 56 currencies, and maintain balances in PayPal accounts in 25 currencies. The company is headquartered in San Jose, California.

Basic PayPal metrics

The company has P/E ratio at 18,6x with a forward P/E of 11,7x and a market capitalization of over USD 67 billion. EV to sales is 2,3x for the last 12 months, and for the next 12 months this ratio is 2,1x, the current price to book value is 3,4. Sales for the entire 2023 are estimated at USD 29,62 billion and are expected to increase to USD 32 billion in 2024 and to USD 34,78 billion in 2025, according to market consensus. Earnings per share for 2023 are expected to be USD 4,98 and may increase in the following years to USD 5,33 and USD 6,14, respectively.

Forecasts for PayPal on Wall Street

Out of 45 Wall Street analysts, 23 of them rate PayPal as a company whose shares may be considered, and 22 believe that if someone already owns them, they can continue to hold them. The company does not have any "sell" rating. The average price target for PayPal stock is $75,91, which could imply a 21% difference from the market's closing price on Friday, February 2. The high price target for PayPal stock is $145 and the low is $56.

PayPal results published on February 7

After the trading session on February 7, 2024, the company will publish quarterly results. In an upcoming report, Wall Street analysts expect Paypal to post quarterly earnings of $1,36 per share, reflecting a 9,7% increase over the same period last year. Revenue is forecast to be $7,88 billion, up 6,8% year-over-year.

Consensus estimates over the last 30 days EPS per quarter was revised down 0,4% to the current level. This shows that analysts reassessed their initial forecasts during this period.