Citi raises PayPal stock price target to $98 from $97, maintains Buy

Published 05/02/2025, 11:56
Citi raises PayPal stock price target to $98 from $97, maintains Buy

On Wednesday, Citi analyst Ashwin Shirvaikar adjusted the price target for PayPal Holdings Inc . (NASDAQ:PYPL), increasing it marginally from $97.00 to $98.00, while reiterating a Buy rating on the company’s shares. The adjustment comes despite PayPal’s stock experiencing approximately a 13% drop following its fourth-quarter results. Currently trading at $77.72 with a market capitalization of $77.2 billion, PayPal maintains a "GOOD" overall financial health score according to InvestingPro analysis, which shows the stock is currently undervalued based on their proprietary Fair Value model.

Shirvaikar pointed out several factors that contributed to the decline, including concerns over the growth rate of U.S. branded volume, competitiveness of international branded checkout, the impact and timing of Braintree rationalization, and heightened expectations for volumes after Visa (NYSE:V) and Mastercard (NYSE:MA) reported their results. The stock’s recent decline has pushed it into oversold territory according to technical indicators, while maintaining a P/E ratio of 22.4x against projected earnings growth.

Despite these challenges, the analyst believes that PayPal’s trajectory remains unchanged. According to Shirvaikar, the company’s underlying transaction margin dollar growth and earnings per share trajectory by 2025 are better than previously forecasted. He noted that PayPal has a highly credible and potentially beatable outlook.

The lowered expectations for PayPal and other companies that have yet to report provide a more favorable setup heading into the company’s analyst day on February 25th. Shirvaikar anticipates that the event will offer an opportunity for PayPal to provide clarity and highlight the medium-term building blocks for improvement.

Investors are likely to look for progress towards these objectives, which should establish a solid foundation for the company’s future. Shirvaikar’s commentary suggests confidence in PayPal’s ability to meet and potentially exceed current market expectations.

In other recent news, PayPal’s fourth-quarter performance exceeded top and bottom-line expectations, according to Citi analyst Ashwin Shirvaikar, who maintained a Buy rating with a $97 target. The success was attributed to higher than expected total payment volume and other value-added services. On the other hand, BTIG analyst Lance Jessurun maintained a Neutral rating on PayPal, expressing caution over the company’s growth outlook. KeyBanc Capital Markets also maintained a "Sector Weight" rating, anticipating a conservative fiscal year 2025 transaction margin dollar growth guidance.

TD Cowen analyst Bryan Bergin raised the price target for PayPal to $90, noting a strong performance in the fourth quarter due to an acceleration in branded checkout volumes. Despite recent optimism, Bergin believes that the initial fiscal year 2025 outlook estimates may not have significant upside.

In other company news, PayPal announced the departure of Executive Vice President and Chief Product Officer John Kim, set for March 31, 2025, who will leave with a severance package. The financial terms of the severance package were not disclosed. These are among the recent developments in the company.

This article was generated with the support of AI and reviewed by an editor. For more information see our T&C.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.