PayPal drops after cutting forecast on spending slowdown

PayPal shares fell after the company trimmed its forecast for annual revenue amid a slowdown in spending growth on its platform.

Payments volume on PayPal’s platforms jumped 14 per cent to $337 billion (€344.6 billion) in the third quarter, missing the $343.2 billion average estimates from analysts. PayPal said it now expects revenue for the year to jump 10 per cent to $27.5 billion, compared with an earlier forecast of $27.85 billion.

“Clearly, you’re seeing discretionary spending under pressure as people spend more and more of their disposable income on gas, food and rent,” chief executive Dan Schulman said in an interview.

Mr Schulman is battling a slowdown in growth in spending on PayPal’s many platforms, spurred by the reopening of the US economy in the aftermath of the pandemic as well as once-in-a-generation levels of inflation.

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PayPal shares fell about 6.9 per cent in premarket trading before New York exchanges opened. They fared somewhat better in live trade, and were off 2.6 per cent at 10:45am US time. The shares had on Thursday recovered some of their early session losses to close down 3.7 per cent after PayPal announced a deal with Apple.

The company has vowed to reduce expenses – including through job cuts and the shuttering of offices across the country – which it has said will result in $900 million in savings this year and $1.3 billion next year. Mr Schulman has been vocal about his plans to improve operating leverage, or the ability to grow revenue faster than expenses.

Costs for the third quarter climbed to $5.73 billion, well under the $5.92 billion average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The company now expects the push to shave expenses will buoy adjusted profit for the year even as it trimmed its forecast for annual revenue.

“We delivered strong third-quarter results,” Mr Schulman said in a statement announcing the results. “We will continue to invest against our key priorities to advance our leading position in digital payments and commerce.”

Revenue during the quarter jumped 12 per cent to $6.85 billion. That was ahead of the $6.81 billion analysts predicted and PayPal said it now expects adjusted profit to be as high as $4.09 a share, up from the $3.87-$3.97 it previously expected.

PayPal this year has revamped its marketing to focus on encouraging existing users to become even more active rather than adding new customers who might not be heavy users of the platform. Those efforts seem to be bearing fruit: transactions per active account soared 13 per cent to 50.1 in the quarter.

“We continue to execute on our strategy to deliver long-term, profitable growth,” acting chief financial Gabrielle Rabinovitch said in the statement. “Our strong third quarter results reflect both the diversification of our business and our ongoing focus on operating discipline.” – Bloomberg