PayPal Gains 13.3 Million New Customers in Q3, Keeps Forecast Bearish

PayPal, which is a leading global payments platform, reported a 13 percent jump in its revenue to $6.18 billion for the third quarter of 2021. The earnings per share for the period came in 4 percent higher at $1.11 and beat the street estimate of $1.07.

However, the revenue fell short of the analyst’s consensus estimate of $6.23 billion.

The adjusted earnings of the company shrank by 1 percent in the quarter to $1.47 billion.

But, the most highlighted metrics was the total payment volume on the platform that reached $310 billion, growing at a rate of 26 percent. On an FX-neutral basis, the growth rate stood at 24 percent.

But, the most highlighted metrics remained the total payment volume on the platform that reached $310 billion, growing at a rate of 26 percent. On an FX-neutral basis, the growth rate stood at 24 percent.

Moreover, PayPal added 13.3 million net new active accounts (NNAs) in the quarter, taking the total number of active accounts to 416 million.

“Our third-quarter results show solid growth on top of a record year. The strength of PayPal’s two-sided platform and ubiquity in our core markets has set us up to grow at scale, expand our work with existing merchants and attract new partners,” said Dan Schulman, PayPal’s President and CEO.

Moreover, the American company has partnered with Amazon.com that will enable Venmo customers to conduct transactions on the e-commerce platform from next year. Further, it has rolled out cryptocurrency buying and selling capabilities for UK customers in the third quarter.

Bearish Forecast

Despite the promising numbers, PayPal is bearish on its fourth-quarter expectations. It expects to generate net revenue in the range of $6.85 billion to $6.95 billion, which is below the street estimation of $7.24 billion.

On the user front, PayPal expects to gain a total of around 55 million new customers in 2021 that includes 3 million customers it gained from the acquisition of Paidy. Furthermore, the company expects the total payment volume to grow at a rate of about 33 percent to 34 percent for the ongoing year.