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Investing.com — PayPal (NASDAQ:) raised its full-year profit guidance after reporting Monday its first quarter results that topped expectations, driven by cost cuts and growth in e-commerce.
Still, PayPal shares trade 4.5% lower in pre-market Tuesday after the company lowered its operating margin outlook from +125bps to +100bps for the full year.
For Q1, PayPal earnings per share of $1.17 on revenue of $7.04 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $1.10 on revenue of $6.98B.
The beat on the bottom line was driven by cost cuts and an increase in new accounts.
Active accounts grew 1% for the quarter year-on-year, bringing total active accounts to 433 million.
Total payment volume (TPV), a key measure of performance, rose 10%, to $354.5B.
For Q2, adjusted EPS was expected to grow 24% to 26% to $1.15 to $1.17 on revenue growth in a range of 6.5% to 7%.
Looking ahead, the company now expects to grow adjusted EPS by about 20% to $4.95; up from prior guidance of 18% growth to $4.87.
The company attributed the boost to guidance to the “ongoing benefit from cost initiatives.”
Oppenheimer analysts believe PayPal stock “may be stuck” in the near term.
“We get the strategic value of Braintree, but investors will ask; how long can you cut expenses to offset profitability declines which impact valuation? Meaningful PPCP profitability help is likely quarters/years away. Thus, revenue growth likely slower than TPV. We/ investors need to see sustainable underlying margin expansion given their scale,” the analysts said in a client note.
Deutsche Bank analysts said the move lower in PYPL shares is a result of the investor focus on transaction margin pressures.
“Transaction margins are under pressure and will only begin to improve yoy if branded volumes rebounds (as share loss worries continue). As a result, we expect higher revenues to be fully offset by lower transaction margins,” the analysts wrote.
Additional reporting by Senad Karaahmetovic
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