PayPal Stock Trades 25% Below its 52-Week High: Buy, Sell or Hold?

PayPal PYPL shares closed at $69.85 on Friday, 25.4% below the 52-week high of $93.66 it hit on Dec. 9, 2024. PayPal shares have dropped 18.1% year to date (YTD), which can be attributed to intensifying competition in the fintech industry from the likes of Visa V, Mastercard MA, Apple Pay, Adyen and others. A challenging macroeconomic environment and uncertainty over higher tariffs on trade partners, China, Canada and Mexico, has been an overhang on the stock.PayPal stock has also underperformed its closest peers, Visa and Mastercard. While shares of Visa have returned 11.9%, Mastercard shares have gained 7.1% over the same timeframe.PYPL Stock’s Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research However, PayPal’s impressive first-quarter 2025 results, reported on April 29, have helped the stock recover somewhat. Since April 29, PYPL shares have increased 5.3%, outperforming Visa’s and Mastercard’s 3.5% and 4.4%, respectively.PayPal reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.33 per share, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate by 15.65% and jumped 23.1% year over year. Net revenues of $7.79 billion increased 1.2% year over year on a reported basis and 2% on a forex-neutral basis.More importantly, PayPal’s total payment volume increased 3% year over year on a reported basis and 4% on a forex-neutral basis to $417.2 billion. Transaction margin in dollar terms was $3.7 billion, up more than 7% on a reported basis.PayPal Shares Trading CheapPayPal shares are trading cheap, as suggested by the Value Score of B.In terms of forward 12-month P/E, PYPL stock is trading at 13.15X compared with the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry’s 22.78X. The stock is cheaper than competitors, including Visa and Mastercard. Shares of Visa and Mastercard are currently trading at P/E ratios of 28.79X and 33.07X, respectively.PYPL’s P/E Ratio (F12M) Image Source: Zacks Investment Research PayPal shares are trading below the 50-day moving average, indicating a bullish trend.PYPL Shares Trade Above 50-Day SMA Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Although PayPal’s strong guidance and cheap valuation are noteworthy, are the shares worth buying at current prices? Let’s dig deep to find out.Earnings Estimate Revision Trend Positive for PYPLFor 2025, PayPal still anticipates non-GAAP earnings between $4.95 per share and $5.10 per share. For second-quarter 2025, PYPL expects non-GAAP earnings between $1.29 per share and $1.31 per share.The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings is pegged at $5.08 per share, up by 2% over the past 30 days, suggesting 9.25% growth over 2024. The consensus mark for second-quarter 2025 earnings is pegged at $1.28 per share, up 6.7% over the past 30 days, suggesting 7.56% growth over the figure reported in the year-ago quarter. PayPal Holdings, Inc. Price and Consensus PayPal Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-chart | PayPal Holdings, Inc. Quote PYPL’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 14.01%.PYPL’s Strong Portfolio, Rich Partner Base to Aid ProspectsPayPal’s transformation from a payments company to an end-to-end strategic commerce partner for its merchants is noteworthy. Portfolio strength has been helping the company maintain deep and trusted relationships with merchants and consumers. Its two-sided platform helps develop direct financial relationships with customers and merchants. PYPL’s investments in improving branded checkout and Venmo helped in driving total active accounts, which increased 2% year over year to 436 in the first quarter of 2025. PayPal’s strategic initiatives, including omnichannel commerce, both online branded checkout and offline branded payment methods, Venmo and Payment service provider, are expected to drive transaction margin dollars. PayPal expects transaction margin dollars between $15.2 billion and $15.4 billion, suggesting growth in the 4-5% range for 2025. The company remains on track to launch NFC capabilities in Germany later this quarter and bring PayPal everywhere to the United Kingdom in the third quarter of 2025.PayPal’s expanding partner base, including Coinbase Global COIN, Fiserv, Adyen, Amazon, Global Payments and Shopify, is driving prospects. In April, PayPal and Coinbase expanded their partnership to increase the adoption, distribution, and utilization of the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin. The partnership with PayPal allows Coinbase customers direct access to PYUSD.PayPal saw Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) volume growth of more than 20% in the first quarter. PYPL stated that BNPL users spend 33% more on average and conduct 17% more transactions. PayPal plans to increase consumer awareness of its BNPL solutions through campaigns in the United Kingdom and Germany, with continuing investments in Australia, France, Italy and Spain.Here’s Why You Should Hold PYPL StockPayPal’s robust portfolio, expanding partner base, and cheap valuation are key drivers that make the stock attractive to long-term investors. However, intensifying competition and a challenging macroeconomic environment are expected to hurt PayPal’s prospects in the near term. PayPal currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), which implies that investors should wait for a more favorable point to start accumulating the stock. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 DaysJust released: Experts distill 7 elite stocks from the current list of 220 Zacks Rank #1 Strong Buys. They deem these tickers "Most Likely for Early Price Pops."Since 1988, the full list has beaten the market more than 2X over with an average gain of +23.0% per year. So be sure to give these hand picked 7 your immediate attention. See them now >>Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Mastercard Incorporated (MA): Free Stock Analysis Report Visa Inc. (V): Free Stock Analysis Report PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL): Free Stock Analysis Report Coinbase Global, Inc. (COIN): Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Zacks