PayPal stock plunges as Q4 EPS, forecast miss expectations

Electronic payments pioneer PayPal this afternoon reported Q4 revenue that was in line with Wall Street’s expectations, but missed profit projections by a penny, and missed with its quarterly and year outlook. 

The report follows a disappointing Q3 report in November in which PayPal had missed revenue expectations and cut its outlook for the full year. 

The report sent PayPal shares down 16% in late trading. 

CEO Dan Schulman remarked, “2021 was one of the strongest years in PayPal’s history. We reached $1.25 trillion in TPV and launched more products and experiences than ever before. The future is moving in our direction, and we are investing in our consumer and merchant capabilities to seize the opportunity in front of us.”

Revenue in the three months ended in December rose to $6.9 billion, yielding a net profit of $1.11 a share, excluding some costs. 

Analysts had been modeling $6.9 billion and $1.12 per share.

PayPal said its Total Payment Volume, or “TPV,” rose 23% to $339.5 billion, and that it ended the quarter with 426 million active accounts, up 13%.

Also: PayPal adds 13.3 million new accounts in Q3, reports revenue of $6.18 billion

For the current quarter, the company sees revenue rising by 6%, equivalent to $6.395 billion, and EPS  of 87 cents. That compares to consensus for $6.76 billion and $1.16 per share.

For the full year, the company sees revenue rising by 15% to 17%, equivalent to a range of $29.2 billion to $29.7 billion, and EPS of $4.60 to $4.75. That compares to consensus of $29.96 billion and $5.21 per share in net profit.

The company expects its TPV to rise by 19% to 22% this year, to reach $1.5 trillion, it said.