PayPal has a bright outlook

Article Excerpt

PAYPAL HOLDINGS INC. $72 is a buy, but only for aggressive investors. The company (Nasdaq symbol PYPL; Aggressive Growth Portfolio, Finance sector; Shares outstanding: 989.2 million; Market cap: $71.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 2.4; No dividends paid; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.paypal.com) processes online transactions on millions of websites, including purchases made on the sites of its former parent company eBay Inc. (Nasdaq symbol EBAY). PayPal also owns the Venmo smartphone app. It lets users transfer funds to other Venmo users by linking the app to a bank account, or to a debit or credit card. In the three months ended December 31, 2024, PayPal’s revenue rose 4.2%, to $8.37 billion from $8.03 billion a year earlier. That gain reflects a 1.9% increase in the number of active users to 434 million, which offset a 2.6% decline in the number of transactions. However, higher marketing costs and income taxes cut earnings before unusual items by 1.9%, to $1.21 billion from $1.23 billion. Due to fewer shares…