PYPL

AFRM fell 4% Monday as fast money unwound its post-earnings spike, despite Q4 GMV surging 36% and revenue rising 33% to $1.17 billion. AFRM's 36% GMV growth far outpaces peers like PYPL, but that growth premium drives outsized single-session volatility when fast money exits positions. Max Levchin cited inflation fueling demand, backed by fiscal 2027 guidance for GMV above $64 billion and adjusted operating margin above 30%. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Affirm didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Shares of Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) are unwinding a sharp post-earnings rally to open the week, handing back much of the gain built on Thursday's fiscal fourth-quarter report. The move is more about positioning than any fresh news out of the company, which announced nothing today. Affirm stock is down 4% to $74.51 in Monday morning trading, extending the drift lower that began in Friday's afternoon session. Meanwhile, the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) is down 0.52% to $764.36, a soft session for the broad market that puts Affirm's decline in sharp relief. The context matters here. Affirm stock was up 4% year to date through Friday's close, a figure that masks a huge intraweek swing. Friday saw the stock rally to an 11-month high, climbing 13% at its peak before paring most of that gain into the close. Profit taking after a large prior run is the cleanest read. Affirm reported its fiscal fourth quarter Thursday, August 27, for the fiscal fourth quarter ended June 30, and the results beat on both revenue and volume. Affirm's revenue rose 33% to $1.17 billion, against a $1.11 billion analyst estimate, while gross merchandise volume, the total dollar value of transactions processed on the platform, rose 36% to $14.1 billion, against a $13.39 billion estimate. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Affirm didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Affirm's profitability inflected, as well. Adjusted operating income reached $353 million, a 30% adjusted operating margin, and GAAP operating income came in at $147 million, a 12.6% GAAP operating margin, up six percentage points from a year earlier. Active consumers grew 21% to 27.8 million, and transactions per active consumer rose 20% to 7. The card story continued to compound. The Affirm Card business reached 5.2 million active consumers, up 125% from the prior year. Affirm's credit quality also improved, with the 30-day delinquency rate on monthly installment loans, excluding Peloton and Pay in X loans, coming in at 2.5%, an improvement from the 2.7% to 2.8% range in each of the previous three quarters. The gap between the results and Monday's reaction is the useful observation. A 4% decline in Affirm shares against a broad market down 0.4% is a far larger move than the broad market explains, which points to positioning in the stock rather than to anything in the results or in the wider market. Friday's session tells the same story from the other side. Affirm shares spiked toward an 11-month high intraday before rolling over, a signal that fast money used the report to sell strength rather than to build new positions. With no company-specific catalyst today, the unwind is just extending that same pattern. CEO Max Levchin framed the demand backdrop on the call: "In times of inflation, we see more demand because folks are budgeting. They're more thoughtful about how they want to use the money, and we're there to help." Affirm's guidance backed that up. For fiscal 2027, the company guided to gross merchandise volume above $64 billion and an adjusted operating margin above 30.5%. Affirm sits in the installment-payments space alongside PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL), though the two run very different growth profiles. Affirm printed 36% GMV growth in the quarter, a pace that puts it in a different bucket from the slower-growing large-cap payment platforms it's often compared against. That growth premium is exactly why single-session volatility runs so hot in Affirm shares. When a fintech name trades on multiples of forward revenue and forward operating income, small changes in positioning move the price far more than similar flows would move a mature payments stock. Monday's selling is consistent with fast-money profit taking rather than any change in the underlying franchise. Position sizing is crucial here. A name that can spike 13% and give it back inside two sessions carries more single-session volatility than Affirm's fundamentals suggest, so investors should consider keeping their position sizes moderate while the gap between the results and the share price stays unresolved. Traders should watch for signs of stabilization in Affirm shares near pre-earnings levels, along with any sell-side revisions catching up to Thursday's raised fiscal 2027 outlook. The read on today's move is technical rather than fundamental in nature. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Affirm didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

PayPal lost 15% as Stripe and Advent abandoned their $50B bid, while Affirm surged 13% on record profits and a new Shopify Australia deal. Klarna jumped 5% on consolidation relief, but XLF's flat close signals these are name-specific moves, not a financials sector rotation. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and PayPal didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Two of the biggest names in digital payments are ripping in opposite directions Friday morning, with the buy-now-pay-later cluster trading on unrelated single-name catalysts rather than a common thread. The broader financials sector is barely moving, which reinforces that this is a name-specific event and not a sector rotation. PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock is down 15% to $52.45 in early Friday trading after Bloomberg reported that Stripe and Advent International walked away from an acquisition of PayPal that had been valued at more than $50 billion. Meanwhile, Affirm Holdings (NASDAQ:AFRM) stock is up 13% to $87.56, a mirror-image move as investors reassess a competitive landscape that briefly looked like it might feature a Stripe-owned PayPal. Across the rest of the cluster, Klarna (NYSE:KLAR) stock is up 5% to $14.65 and Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) stock is up 2% to $128.70, while the Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF (NYSEARCA:XLF) sits at $57.90 and is practically unchanged. The dispersion inside the buy-now-pay-later group tells you the cluster isn't trading as a bloc. Bloomberg first reported Stripe's interest in PayPal in February, and The Wall Street Journal reported in August that PayPal had found the initial bid insufficient and that the two sides were negotiating a higher price. Stripe and Advent are both privately held, so the withdrawal removes an obvious buyer without introducing any new public competitor. The takeover overhang that had lifted PayPal stock for months is gone. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and PayPal didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. PayPal stock had risen more than 40% this quarter on a combination of a second-quarter earnings beat and takeover speculation, and one of those two supports has now disappeared. PayPal stock carries a market cap of roughly $52.59 billion, close to the offer that was just withdrawn, which is what makes today's air pocket feel especially sharp. The underlying business hasn't changed: PayPal's Q2 2026 report showed non-GAAP EPS of $1.38 versus $1.2776 expected, revenue of $8.68 billion, and total payment volume of $486.45 billion, up 10%. Affirm reported fiscal fourth quarter 2026 results after Thursday's close, covering the quarter ended June 30, 2026. CEO Max Levchin described the period as "our most profitable quarter ever, even without the tax allowance release" and stated that "the company is thriving and the core business is firing on all business." Affirm also promoted Michael Linford to president, a signal that management sees the growth runway extending well beyond the current quarter. Additionally, Affirm and Shopify (NASDAQ:SHOP) announced Thursday afternoon the launch of Shop Pay Installments in Australia, powered exclusively by Affirm, marking Affirm's return to the Australian market. Shopify is a payments and commerce heavyweight, and exclusive distribution through Shop Pay is the kind of channel that peer BNPL names would struggle to replicate. The vanishing threat of a Stripe-controlled PayPal only sharpens Affirm's competitive setup heading into the holiday season. Klarna stock and Sezzle stock are both green, but neither is riding the Affirm move dollar-for-dollar. Klarna is drifting higher on relief that the biggest checkout-brand consolidation scenario is off the table for now, while Sezzle is barely participating despite operating in the same lane. Same category, different price action. The Financial Select Sector SPDR ETF sitting essentially unmoved is the tell that this isn't a sector event. Payment fintechs live inside financials for index purposes, but XLF's flat move confirms banks, insurers, and diversified financials aren't reacting. Investors sizing their exposure around today's headlines can treat these moves as idiosyncratic rather than thematic. Traders can watch for whether PayPal stock finds a floor near its pre-speculation level from earlier in the quarter, since that reference frames how much of the recent rally was fundamentals versus takeover premium. Shareholders may want to keep an eye on whether Affirm's Shopify Australia rollout produces early volume disclosures over the next few quarters. Position sizing matters more than usual on days like this. Investors chasing Affirm stock at a 13% higher price should size their exposure to survive a mean-revert session, and anyone bottom-fishing PayPal stock should scale in rather than commit full size into a name that just lost its most obvious near-term catalyst. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and PayPal didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

It has been about a month since the last earnings report for Paypal (PYPL). Shares have added about 5.9% in that time frame, outperforming the S&P 500. But investors have to be wondering, will the recent positive trend continue leading up to its next earnings release, or is Paypal due for a pullback? Before we dive into how investors and analysts have reacted as of late, let's take a quick look at the latest earnings report in order to get a better handle on the important drivers. PayPal Holdings reported second-quarter 2026 non-GAAP earnings per share (EPS) of $1.38, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28 by 7.81%. The metric declined 1% year over year. Revenues of $8.68 billion surpassed the consensus mark of $8.51 billion by 2.02% and increased 5% year over year. The quarter benefited from solid growth in TPV, along with continued momentum in Venmo and Braintree. TPV increased 10% to $486.45 billion, or 9% on a currency-neutral basis. Transaction revenues increased 5% year over year to $7.83 billion, supported by Braintree, Venmo and favorable foreign exchange. Revenues from other value-added services were flat at $850 million, as higher credit revenues were offset by lower interest earned on customer balances. U.S. revenues rose 7% to $5.05 billion, while international revenues increased 2% to $3.63 billion. On a currency-neutral basis, international revenues declined 3%, indicating that domestic growth remained the stronger contributor. The company processed 6.75 billion payment transactions in the second quarter, up 8% year over year. Excluding payment service provider (PSP) transactions, payment transactions increased 7%, reflecting growth across the portfolio. Transactions per active account rose 3% to 60.0 on a trailing 12-month basis. Excluding PSP, the metric increased 7% to 37.9, marking a second straight quarter of acceleration and highlighting stronger Venmo engagement. Venmo TPV advanced 14% year over year to $93.81 billion and represented 19% of overall TPV. Management noted that Venmo delivered a second consecutive quarter of mid-teens growth. Branded checkout volume grew 2% on a currency-neutral basis, remaining stable with the first quarter. PSP volume increased 13% on a currency-neutral basis, with Braintree growing in the mid-teens, while peer-to-peer and other consumer volume rose 10%. TM$ increased 1% year over year to $3.90 billion. Excluding interest on customer balances, TM$ rose 3% to $3.62 billion, supported by Venmo, credit and Braintree, along with favorable foreign exchange and lower losses. Non-transaction-related expenses increased 9% to $2.39 billion. Non-GAAP operating income declined 8% to $1.51 billion, while non-GAAP operating margin contracted 248 basis points to 17.4%, reflecting continued investment in growth and platform initiatives. Active accounts were 439 million at quarter-end, up 0.3% year over year. MAA increased 1% to 228 million, with Venmo driving much of the growth. Management also highlighted stronger adoption across newer financial services products. Buy now, pay later TPV increased 26%, while MAA for the offering rose more than 20%. Venmo Debit Card MAA grew more than 50%, and Pay with Venmo MAA increased approximately 30%. Net cash provided by operating activities surged 121% year over year to $1.98 billion. Free cash flow soared 157% to $1.78 billion, while adjusted free cash flow climbed 179% to $1.83 billion. PayPal repurchased approximately 33 million shares for $1.5 billion during the reported quarter. The company also paid $122 million in dividends and declared a cash dividend of 14 cents per share, payable Sept. 25, 2026. For 2026, PayPal now expects non-GAAP EPS of about $5.38, up from $5.31 in 2025. The company also raised its TM$ outlook to approximately $15.6 billion and expects TM$, excluding interest on customer balances, of about $14.5 billion. Management reiterated adjusted free cash flow of more than $6 billion and share repurchases of roughly $6 billion. For the third quarter, PayPal expects non-GAAP EPS to decline at a low-single-digit rate from the year-ago levels of $1.34. It turns out, estimates revision have trended downward during the past month. Currently, Paypal has a average Growth Score of C, a score with the same score on the momentum front. However, the stock has a grade of A on the value side, putting it in the top quintile for value investors. Overall, the stock has an aggregate VGM Score of B. If you aren't focused on one strategy, this score is the one you should be interested in. Estimates have been trending downward for the stock, and the magnitude of these revisions indicates a downward shift. Notably, Paypal has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). We expect an in-line return from the stock in the next few months. Paypal belongs to the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry. Another stock from the same industry, Wex (WEX), has gained 5.4% over the past month. More than a month has passed since the company reported results for the quarter ended June 2026. Wex reported revenues of $753.5 million in the last reported quarter, representing a year-over-year change of +14.2%. EPS of $5.35 for the same period compares with $3.95 a year ago. For the current quarter, Wex is expected to post earnings of $5.60 per share, indicating a change of +22% from the year-ago quarter. The Zacks Consensus Estimate has changed +0.9% over the last 30 days. The overall direction and magnitude of estimate revisions translate into a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) for Wex. Also, the stock has a VGM Score of D. 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 PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report WEX Inc. (WEX) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Klarna (KLAR) dropped 7% ahead of Q2 earnings, where analysts expect a $0.06 per-share loss on $995 million in revenue. Sezzle (SEZL) slid 5% while PayPal (PYPL) dipped just 2%, confirming Monday's selloff is Klarna-specific positioning rather than a broad BNPL sector move. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Klarna Group plc didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Klarna Group (NYSE:KLAR) stock is sliding midday Monday, with shares down 7% to $19.38 ahead of the buy now, pay later (BNPL) firm's second-quarter report. The pullback unwinds part of a three-week rally right before a binary event. Klarna stock had climbed 4% for the week and 6% for the month through Friday's close, and shares are down 33% year to date (YTD). The company went public on the New York Stock Exchange in September 2025, and Tuesday's report before the market open is its most anticipated print since that listing. There's no fresh company-specific Klarna news driving Monday's drop. The move looks like straightforward profit-taking and risk reduction into an earnings event, with traders trimming exposure after a run that lifted the stock heading in. Positioning ahead of a binary earnings event often outweighs fundamentals in the final hours before a release. The Street is looking for a Klarna loss of $0.06 per share on revenue of $995 million, per Fiscal.ai. Morgan Stanley raised its price target on Klarna stock to $21 from $18 while keeping an Equal Weight rating, and the 12-month average target sits at $24.55 per Koyfin. Of 22 analysts covering the stock, 13 have a Buy or higher rating and 9 have a Hold. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Klarna Group plc didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was neutral even as message volume surged 300% over 24 hours. One analyst noted expectations for a Q2 2026 beat on the back of robust e-commerce results, while flagging that Klarna's discount to its larger BNPL competitor "likely only compresses with sustained execution on credit," per TheFly. Klarna's own guidance sets the bar. For Q2 2026, management guided to GMV of $35.5 billion to $36.5 billion, revenue of $960 million to $1 billion, transaction margin dollars of $375 million to $395 million, and adjusted operating profit of $30 million to $50 million. The $995 million consensus revenue figure sits inside that range, shifting the focus to margins and credit. Last quarter, Klarna posted a loss of $0.01 per share against a $0.13 consensus, on revenue of $1.012 billion, up 51.3% year over year (YoY). Fair Financing GMV grew 138% YoY to $4.1 billion, reaching 12% of total GMV, and interest income rose 56% to $284 million. Management has told investors that credit-loss provisions are expected to rise across Q2, Q3, and Q4 on seasonality, Fair Financing growth will moderate as comparables normalize, and the foreign exchange tailwind from a weaker dollar will diminish through the year. Sezzle (NASDAQ:SEZL) stock is down 5% to $122.89 midday Monday. The smaller BNPL platform's shares are still up 103% YTD, though Sezzle stock is down 32% for the month after a sharp reset from July highs, and up 9% for the week through Friday. That mixed pattern reflects investors still digesting Sezzle's most recent print rather than reacting to anything new today. PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock is down 2% to $60.35 in the large-cap payments corner. PayPal shares are up 11% for the month and up 6% YTD, holding steadier than either Klarna or Sezzle heading into the Klarna earnings report. The scale of PayPal's payments platform makes it less sensitive to any single BNPL data point. Affirm (NASDAQ:AFRM) stock is down 4.17% to $75.08 Monday, giving back a chunk of last week's advance after the shares closed Friday at $78.35. Affirm had gained 4.12% for the week through Friday's close, though it remains down 4.11% over the past month, and it's still up 5.27% year to date on that same basis. As the larger U.S.-listed buy-now-pay-later platform, Affirm serves as the natural valuation anchor for Klarna, and the fact that it's falling alongside Klarna on a day with no sector news suggests investors are trimming BNPL exposure broadly ahead of Tuesday's print rather than singling out one name. The split across the three names supports the read that Monday's action is Klarna-specific positioning rather than a category event. When Sezzle, PayPal, Affirm, and Klarna splinter on the day before an earnings report, it usually points to single-name flows and hedging, not a macro repricing of BNPL. Investors can watch for whether Klarna's revenue lands inside the guided $960 million to $1 billion range, whether transaction margin dollars hit the guided $375 million to $395 million, and whether adjusted operating profit stays positive within the $30 million to $50 million guide. Provision growth and full-year commentary are the two swing factors that could dictate the reaction into Wednesday. The other tells for Klarna include how much provisions climb, and whether management reaffirms the full-year framework of GMV above $155 billion and adjusted operating profit above 6.9% of revenue. Tuesday's release before the open could set the tone for BNPL sentiment into the back half of the year. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Klarna Group plc didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Nebius Breaks Out to All-Time Highs—Here's What's Driving It. Corvex reported $3.8 million in second-quarter 2026 revenue, its first full reporting period including the AI cloud computing business acquired through its March merger with Corvex Legacy Holdings. Company leaders said the quarter’s reported revenue reflected the amount of computing capacity that was live and generating revenue during the period, rather than the full level of signed customer commitments. As of the earnings call date, Corvex said contracted annualized recurring revenue on live compute was approximately $22 million, including a compute delivery announced Aug. 4. The company defines the metric as the annualized value of fixed contractual fees from capacity that has been delivered, accepted by customers and is generating revenue. It excludes contracted capacity that has not yet entered service. Why PayPal’s Rally Faded—And What Could Restart It Co-Founder and Co-Chief Executive Officer Jay Crystal said Corvex builds and operates AI infrastructure for training and inference workloads. Its offerings include AI factories and GPU clusters, the Corvex Token Factory inference platform, and confidential computing capabilities. → Looking Beyond CrowdStrike? 3 AI Security Stocks Stand Out The company’s AI factory contracts are take-or-pay arrangements, Crystal said, with customers paying fixed fees for reserved computing and storage capacity regardless of their utilization. Corvex said all of its current AI platform revenue comes from fixed-term contracts. Checkmate in the Cloud: ServiceNow's Shopping Spree Crystal said demand for AI infrastructure exceeds available supply, with energized, permitted, cooled and connected power capacity representing a key industry constraint. He said Corvex evaluates power costs, hardware costs, financing, contract duration, residual values and customer credit before approving new cluster deployments. → 3 Robotics Stocks Under $10: Value, Momentum, or Bet? Corvex Token Factory version one is now operating in closed alpha, Co-Founder and Co-CEO Seth Demsey said. The platform is intended to provide API access to open-weight AI models through Corvex’s inference engine. Demsey said the company plans further releases in the third and fourth quarters. During the quarter, Corvex also completed planning for version two of its cloud-management software and moved into execution. Demsey said the software is designed to improve automation, reliability and scalability as the platform expands. → Michael Burry Is Betting Against Palantir Again—Should Investors Care? Chief Financial Officer Chance Moreland said all $3.8 million of second-quarter revenue came from AI platform and services operations. Revenue totaled $4.3 million for the six months ended June 30 and for the acquired business from March 19 through June 30. Cost of compute for the AI platform and services was $2.1 million in the quarter, excluding depreciation and amortization. Those costs primarily included data-center rent, power, network access and directly attributable labor. Depreciation and amortization totaled $2.7 million, largely reflecting servers, networking equipment, computing hardware, finance lease amortization and acquired intangibles. Operating expenses included: Technology and infrastructure expense of $1.4 million; Sales and marketing expense of $700,000; and General and administrative expense of $12.1 million. Moreland said stock-based compensation totaled $9.4 million in the quarter, including $7.6 million recorded in general and administrative expenses. The expense was driven primarily by replacement equity awards issued for Corvex OpCo options and restricted stock units in connection with the merger. The company said the assumed awards had total fair value of about $148.5 million. Of that amount, approximately $4.9 million was included in purchase consideration and approximately $143.6 million is expected to be recognized as compensation expense through 2030. Corvex posted a net loss of $12.8 million for the quarter and a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $12.9 million. Other income included a $2.5 million noncash gain on disposal of assets following the June 30 transfer of legacy healthcare assets to a lender in full satisfaction of a bridge loan. Adjusted EBITDA was negative $3.2 million in the second quarter and negative $4.8 million for the first six months of 2026. Adjusted EBITDA for the AI platform was negative $2.3 million for the quarter. Corvex ended the quarter with $21.7 million in cash and cash equivalents, $31.4 million in net property and equipment, $519 million in goodwill and $15 million in net intangible assets. The company said it had no funded debt outstanding after extinguishing the bridge loan associated with the pre-merger business. Finance lease liabilities were $9.5 million and operating lease liabilities totaled $5.5 million. For the six months ended June 30, Corvex used $9.6 million in operating cash flow. Moreland said the amount included approximately $1.9 million related to winding down the legacy healthcare business, $1.6 million of nonrecurring merger-related costs, and a $2.8 million capital-investment deposit that was refunded in July. Moreland said continued infrastructure expansion will require additional capital. He cited the company’s Aug. 4 Blackwell expansion as an example of a project funded through debt financing, a customer prepayment and existing cash. After the quarter ended, stockholders approved preferred-share conversions that resulted in approximately 56.6 million common shares outstanding on an as-converted basis as of July 8, according to the company. Corvex also filed a resale registration statement covering up to 53.4 million shares held or issuable to existing holders. Moreland said the filing was not a primary offering and would not provide proceeds to the company. Crystal said the company’s immediate priorities include expanding power capacity, bringing more compute capacity into service, converting its business pipeline, advancing Token Factory beyond its alpha stage, and improving internal controls and back-office operations. Corvex disclosed that material weaknesses reported in its 2025 annual filing remained unremediated during the quarter. Moreland said the company engaged a top-10 U.S. accounting and advisory firm to assist with risk assessment, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance scoping, implementation and testing of internal controls. Crystal acknowledged that revenue remains concentrated among a small number of customers and said investors should evaluate Corvex’s progress based on contracted power, contracted annualized recurring revenue on live compute, and the capacity it places into service. Corvex, Inc. is an artificial intelligence cloud computing company focused on providing GPU-accelerated infrastructure for AI training, inference and other high-performance computing workloads. The company offers scalable computing resources designed to support demanding AI applications, including GPU clusters, high-throughput storage, networking and related infrastructure. Corvex was formerly known as Movano Inc., a health technology company focused on wearable devices and biometric monitoring. In March 2026, Movano completed an all-stock merger with the private Corvex business and subsequently changed its name to Corvex, Inc., while continuing to trade on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol MOVE. Following the transaction, the company shifted its primary business from wearable health technology to AI cloud computing and later transferred its remaining legacy healthcare assets. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Corvex Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Block, Inc. XYZ has entered the second half of 2026 with stronger operating momentum, improving profitability and several growth initiatives across Cash App and Square. The fintech company is also putting more focus on connecting its consumer and merchant ecosystems, while investments in artificial intelligence are aimed at improving product development and efficiency. This gives investors more to consider than a simple earnings beat.XYZ shares had considerably advanced in 2026 heading into second-quarter earnings, reflecting renewed confidence in Block's execution. The stock fell more than 6% on Aug. 6 after the results as investors weighed higher planned investments against stronger earnings and guidance. Through Aug. 12, XYZ remained below its pre-results level. Over the broader period, Block's performance has compared favorably with PayPal Holdings PYPL, while Toast TOST has also seen notable swings as investors reassessed growth expectations across fintech and payments.The key question now is whether Block can maintain stronger growth and margins while stepping up spending on sales, product development and AI. Its second-quarter results provided encouraging evidence, but the balance between growth investment and operating discipline remains important. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Block delivered second-quarter adjusted EPS of $1.02, while revenues rose 9% year over year to $6.62 billion. Gross profit increased 25% from the prior-year period. More important for the longer-term earnings story, adjusted operating income reached $864 million, and the adjusted operating margin hit a record 27%.Cash App remained the stronger growth engine, with gross profit rising 31% year over year. Monthly transacting actives increased 3% in June, while Cash App Commerce Enablement volume climbed 17%, and consumer lending origination volume increased 59%. Block is seeking to deepen engagement rather than relying only on user additions, an approach that could support monetization even if active-user growth remains modest.Square also showed better momentum. Gross profit and gross payment volume both increased 13%, while U.S. GPV growth accelerated to its strongest pace since the second quarter of 2023. Management said new seller additions through independent sales organization partners increased more than 150% sequentially as Block continued expanding its distribution channels. Management increased its 2026 outlook following the stronger first half. Block now expects gross profit of $12.51 billion, representing 21% year-over-year growth, along with adjusted operating income of $3.47 billion and a 28% margin. Adjusted EPS is expected to grow 70% for the full year. For the third quarter, management expects gross profit growth of 18% and another 28% adjusted operating margin.The raised outlook is encouraging because it reflects more than the second-quarter beat. Management said performance heading into the third quarter remained healthy, with Square GPV growth in July consistent with second-quarter strength and Cash App inflows and monetization trends remaining solid. Block is also trying to create stronger links between Square and Cash App. Neighborhoods is an important part of that effort. Annualized seller GPV on the platform crossed $1 billion in June, up 220% year over year, while seller onboarding accelerated sharply into July.Product development has accelerated as well. Block said code changes per engineer increased 150% since the start of 2026, while Square shipped 130 features during the first half, more than three times the number delivered in the comparable 2025 period.The opportunity comes with added costs. Management plans to increase investment in go-to-market efforts, Neighborhoods and AI when it sees attractive returns. This strategy could support longer-term growth, but investors will want evidence that higher spending does not interrupt recent margin progress. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Block’s 2026 sales calls for a year-over-year rise of 7.50%, while that for earnings per share (EPS) suggests a 65.40% increase year over year. EPS estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been trending upward over the past month. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Block's valuation looks more balanced after its earnings and profit growth improved, although it should be viewed alongside expectations for continued execution. In terms of forward 12-month Price/Earnings (P/E), Block is trading at 17.05X, which is at a discount to Toast’s 21.32X, but at a premium to PayPal’s 10.50X. Block's premium to PayPal can be supported if gross-profit growth remains strong and margins continue expanding. At the same time, comparisons with Toast show that investors are already willing to pay more for faster payments and merchant-technology growth, leaving Block with less room for execution setbacks.Valuation Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Block's second-quarter report strengthened the investment case without removing the reasons for caution. Gross profit growth accelerated, profitability reached record levels, and management raised its full-year outlook. Square's improving GPV trends and deeper Cash App engagement also provide several ways to sustain growth into 2027.Still, the post-earnings share-price decline shows that investors are watching spending closely. Cash App active growth remains modest, lending growth should normalize, and increased AI and sales investments could limit additional margin expansion if returns take time to emerge. For existing investors, the improving fundamentals support staying with the position while waiting for clearer evidence that Block can sustain stronger growth and disciplined spending together.At present, Block carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. 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 Block, Inc. (XYZ) : Free Stock Analysis Report PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Toast, Inc. (TOST) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Sezzle Inc. SEZL shares entered August carrying high expectations, but the sharp post-earnings reset has changed the investment setup. The company had already attracted attention in 2026 with rapid subscriber growth, rising profitability and an expanding set of financial products. After the recent correction, investors have a different question to consider: whether the lower share price now offers a better entry into a business that is still delivering growth well above that of many payments peers. SEZL closed at $178.53 on Aug. 6 before plunging nearly 34% on Aug. 7 following its second-quarter report. The selling pressure did not mark the end of the story. Shares subsequently recovered and jumped 8.7% on Aug. 11 to $128.27. Even after that rebound, SEZL remained roughly 28% below its pre-results close. The move has been far more dramatic than recent trading in PayPal PYPL, while Shift4 Payments FOUR has also experienced earnings-related volatility. The correction has removed a meaningful part of the valuation risk that surrounded Sezzle before the report. The reset makes the investment case more interesting. Sezzle continues to grow considerably faster than PayPal and has a different growth profile from Shift4 Payments, while its expanding subscriber base, high engagement and new products could support further earnings gains. Credit costs and execution remain worth watching, but the current share price offers a better balance between growth potential and valuation than it did before earnings.Year-to-date Price Performance Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Sezzle's second-quarter results showed that the underlying business has not lost momentum. Gross merchandise volume increased 37.9% year over year to a record $1.3 billion, while total revenues climbed 51.7% to $149.7 million. Net income rose to $40.8 million, representing a 27.2% margin, and adjusted EBITDA reached $58 million with a 38.8% margin. Total revenue less transaction-related costs represented 63.5% of revenues, placing the metric near the upper end of management's 55%-65% target range. The customer metrics make the growth story even stronger. Active subscribers increased 76.4% year over year to 854,000, while Sezzle added a record 140,000 net new subscribers during the quarter. Average quarterly purchase frequency reached 7.2 times, up from 6.1 times in the prior-year period. This combination suggests Sezzle is benefiting from both a larger customer base and deeper engagement among existing users, giving it more than one driver of revenue growth. Marketing expense climbed to $19.4 million during the second quarter as Sezzle deliberately tested how aggressively it could invest in customer acquisition. The encouraging part is that management said the payback period remained below its six-month threshold. Sezzle intends to reduce core marketing spending sequentially in the third quarter, although spending tied to newer products could partly offset that decline. This suggests management is pursuing growth without abandoning its return requirements. This ability to add customers profitably helps distinguish Sezzle from larger peers. PayPal has far greater scale and a more mature payments ecosystem, while Shift4 Payments has broader exposure to merchant acquiring and payment processing. Sezzle's advantage is its current pace of expansion. If it can continue converting marketing dollars into subscribers with short payback periods, the company can sustain a growth rate that justifies some premium over slower-growing payments businesses. Management lifted its 2026 revenue-growth forecast to 35%, effectively moving to the top of the previous 30%-35% range. Adjusted net income guidance increased to $185 million from $180 million, while adjusted diluted EPS guidance rose to $5.25 from $5.10. Raising both top- and bottom-line expectations after a quarter of elevated marketing investment is a positive signal about the underlying economics of the business. There may also be upside that is not fully captured in those numbers. Management said the guidance includes very little contribution from SezzleCash and no contribution from Sezzle Send. Nearly 10% of eligible new Sezzle Anywhere subscribers were already requesting a SezzleCash advance as their first transaction, while Sezzle Send had attracted about 100,000 people to its waitlist ahead of launch. If adoption develops without materially weakening credit performance, these products could create another leg of growth. Over the past week, earnings estimates for both 2026 and 2027 have been revised upward, signaling a bullish outlook from analysts. These figures also suggest year-over-year growth of 45.96% and 27.10%, respectively. Image Source: Zacks Investment Research The biggest improvement in the investment argument may simply be the price investors now have to pay. The stock trades at 6.31X forward 12-month sales per share versus 5.20X for the Zacks sub-industry. On the other hand, PYPL trades at 1.42X forward 12-month sales per share, while FOUR trades near 1.19X forward 12-month sales per share.This is still not a bargain multiple in isolation, but it looks much more reasonable for a company targeting 35% revenue growth while producing strong profitability. The multiple is also substantially less demanding than it was immediately before second-quarter earnings. Valuation Image Source: Zacks Investment Research Sezzle's faster subscriber and revenue growth gives investors something different from either PYPL or FOUR. If earnings continue to compound quickly, today's valuation could become increasingly reasonable rather than expensive. Credit performance remains the most important counterweight to the bullish case. Management expects the provision for credit losses to equal 2.5%-3% of GMV for 2026 and expects normal seasonal increases during the second half. Rapid user acquisition can also increase provisions because newer customers generally produce higher loss rates than established users. Still, management said it was not seeing an underlying deterioration in repayment behavior or consumer credit health. Sezzle also finished the second quarter with more than $205 million of liquidity, while total debt to trailing-12-month adjusted EBITDA was only 0.5 times. This financial position gives the company room to invest in growth while absorbing normal fluctuations in credit costs. The market's initial reaction to the second quarter appears more severe than the change in Sezzle's business outlook. Revenues, GMV, subscribers and earnings remain on a strong upward path, while management raised its 2026 forecasts despite heavier marketing spending. New products provide additional upside that is barely included in guidance. The rebound on Tuesday also suggests some investors are already reassessing the selloff. SEZL carries volatility and credit risk, but the pullback from its Aug. 6 close has improved the potential reward relative to those risks. For investors comfortable with fintech volatility, the current level looks increasingly attractive for building exposure.At present, SEZL sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here. 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 Sezzle Inc. (SEZL) : Free Stock Analysis Report PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report Shift4 Payments, Inc. (FOUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Track your investments for FREE with Simply Wall St, the portfolio command center trusted by over 7 million individual investors worldwide. PayPal Holdings (PYPL) recently reported second quarter 2026 earnings, with sales of US$8,682 million and net income of US$1,104 million. The results offer fresh context for how the stock is currently being evaluated. See our latest analysis for PayPal Holdings. Against this earnings backdrop, PayPal Holdings’ share price has moved sharply higher in the short term, with a 30-day share price return of 27.53% and a 90-day gain of 30%, even though the 1-year total shareholder return remains down 11.18%. Recent attention on a reported buyout proposal from Stripe and Advent International, along with commentary on operational changes under CEO Enrique Lores, appears to have shifted market focus back onto the stock’s scale in digital payments and its current valuation, given the latest close at US$59.07. If you are looking beyond PayPal Holdings and want to see what else is catching attention in payments and fintech, this is a good moment to broaden your search and review the 19 top founder-led companies Bulls see PayPal Holdings as a scaled payments platform briefly mispriced after a rapid rebound. Bears point to slowing growth and past share price declines. Which of those stories actually fits the current valuation setup? At a last close of $59.07, the most followed narrative for PayPal Holdings points to a higher fair value of $68. The gap rests on how stable the core business can stay over time. Read the complete narrative. Curious what keeps that $68 fair value in play even with modest growth assumptions and pressure on margins. The narrative leans heavily on cash generation, buybacks, and a restrained profit outlook that still leaves room for a higher valuation multiple without relying on aggressive revenue expansion or blue sky optionality. According to Benjamin_Ziegler, the fair value narrative for PayPal Holdings builds on several specific assumptions about revenue stability, profitability, and share count. These cover how earnings might trend, where margins could settle, and how ongoing buybacks might affect future earnings per share. The same narrative also highlights a clear break condition. It treats PayPal Holdings’ branded checkout growth and transaction margins as the key signals that would either support the current fair value view or undermine it if they start to weaken. Result: Fair Value of $68 (UNDERVALUED) Have a read of the narrative in full and understand what's behind the forecasts. However, the PayPal Holdings narrative still hinges on branded checkout remaining resilient and transaction margins avoiding further pressure, which could quickly challenge that 13.1% undervaluation view. Find out about the key risks to this PayPal Holdings narrative. The mix of optimism and concern around PayPal Holdings is clear, which is exactly why it helps to check the numbers directly and move quickly. To see how the key positives stack up against the main risks and decide where you stand, start with the 3 key rewards and 1 important warning sign Do not stop with PayPal Holdings. Use the Simply Wall St stock screener to quickly spot fresh ideas that match the kind of opportunities you want to focus on. Target potential mispricing by scanning companies that look attractively valued through the 51 high quality undervalued stocks. Prioritize resilience by reviewing companies highlighted in the 83 resilient stocks with low risk scores. Hunt for less crowded opportunities by checking the screener containing 21 high quality undiscovered gems. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include PYPL. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Get insights on thousands of stocks from the global community of over 7 million individual investors at Simply Wall St. PayPal Holdings is coming off a sharp five year share price decline of about 78.9%, yet the stock now screens as undervalued on several valuation checks, which raises questions about whether the current price is still baking in too much pessimism. Over the past five years the stock has declined about 78.9%, which means a lot of optimism has already been priced out by the market. Progress on PayPal's multi year turnaround and cost efficiency plans can support the investment case. However, execution risks around new products and any slowdown in payment volume growth may weigh on what investors are willing to pay. Across the broader checks PayPal looks cheap, with the stock screening as undervalued in 5 out of 6 valuation tests, which suggests the market may be pricing in a cautious outlook. The issue now is whether PayPal's recent progress and current share price leave enough upside potential to compensate for the risks that remain. Find out why PayPal Holdings' -15.8% return over the last year is lagging behind its peers. The P/E multiple is a useful yardstick for PayPal Holdings because the company currently reports positive earnings. PayPal trades on a P/E of about 10.1x, which is well below both the Diversified Financial industry average of roughly 15.4x and a broader peer group near 25.1x. That places the stock at a sizeable discount to many other payment and financial technology stocks on this single metric. A tailored fair P/E ratio that considers PayPal's business mix and risk profile sits at about 16.0x. This is higher than the current 10.1x level, which suggests the market price assigns a cautious outlook relative to what this framework implies. Despite the strong Q2 2026 earnings beat and higher full year earnings guidance, the P/E multiple still reflects a discount to both the fair ratio and peers. On the P/E multiple, PayPal stock currently appears undervalued compared with both its fair ratio and sector benchmarks. See what the numbers say about this price — find out in our valuation breakdown. Simply Wall St Narratives for PayPal Holdings build on the valuation puzzle by spelling out which future paths for growth, margins and earnings would need to play out for the stock to be worth materially more or less than today. Rather than giving a single figure, they unpack the assumptions sitting behind it so you can keep an eye on whether PayPal Holdings' actual progress lines up with the story that valuation depends on. These Narratives sit on Simply Wall St's Community page. Community views on PayPal Holdings sit far apart, with one side focused on asset light cash generation and the other on constrained upside. Bull case: 29% undervalued Read the full Bull Case to see why PayPal Holdings could be undervalued Bear case: 11% overvalued Read the full Bear Case to see why PayPal Holdings could be overvalued Do you think there's more to the story for PayPal Holdings? Head over to our Community to see what others are saying! PayPal Holdings screens as undervalued on earnings-based metrics, with a P/E well below both sector averages and a tailored fair ratio. That discount appears less about current profitability and more about concern over execution on the multi-year turnaround and the durability of payment volume growth. For you as an investor, the key question is whether PayPal can demonstrate that its efficiency efforts and new products can sustain earnings without eroding its competitive position. The core of the bull versus bear debate is whether that apparent discount is compensation for real business risk or a potential opportunity if execution remains on track. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. Companies discussed in this article include PYPL. Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email [email protected]

Visa crossed $4 trillion in global payments volume with revenue up 14%, while PayPal's active accounts stalled flat at 439 million despite 10% payment volume growth. Visa struck deals with OpenAI and Meta to power agentic commerce, launched a stablecoin platform, and restructured engineering around AI with 80% more code commits. PayPal trades at a P/E of 11 with a 59.5% acquisition probability on Polymarket, making it a turnaround bet with a ticking clock on CEO Lores. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Visa didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Visa (NYSE:V) and PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) both reported on July 28, 2026, and the split screen is striking. Visa ran its payment rails at record speed, crossing $4 trillion in global payments volume for the first time. PayPal, meanwhile, spent the quarter proving its turnaround is real, with a new CEO trying to steady branded checkout while Venmo and Braintree carry the momentum. Visa printed $11.63 billion in revenue, up 14.36% year over year, with EPS of $3.32 beating estimates. Data processing revenue jumped 17% on 71.7 billion processed transactions, and value-added services revenue climbed 34% in constant dollars to $3.8 billion. CEO Ryan McInerney framed it plainly: "Consumer and business spending remains resilient... As the leading hyperscaler of payments globally, we are designing, building and shipping products at an increased velocity." FIFA World Cup spend added real fuel, with card-present transactions up as much as 20% in select U.S. host cities on match days. PayPal delivered $8.68 billion in revenue, up 4.75%, with EPS of $1.38 topping estimates by 8.02%. Total payment volume grew 10% to $486.4 billion, but non-GAAP operating margin contracted 248 basis points to 17.4%, and active accounts stayed essentially flat at 439 million. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Visa didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. New CEO Enrique Lores said, "Branded checkout has further stabilized and we're building on the strong momentum in Venmo and Braintree." Stabilized is the operative word, still short of genuine growth. Visa is spending like a company that sees a bigger prize. It joined an Open Standard partnership to issue OpenUSD, launched a stablecoin platform, and struck deals with OpenAI and Meta to power agentic commerce. It also took a $563 million severance charge to reshape engineering into small agentic squads, with McInerney citing 80% more code commits. PayPal is playing a different game entirely, leaning on 7% U.S. revenue growth while international revenue slipped 3% FXN. Tech spend hit $849 million versus $767 million a year ago, so profitability will keep feeling the squeeze. For Visa, I want to see cross-border e-commerce hold the 16% growth pace after the FIFA sugar rush fades, and I will judge the stablecoin push by whether Pismo integrations produce real client wins. PayPal raised full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance to about $5.38, but Q3 EPS is expected to decline low-single digits. That leaves little room for slippage in Venmo monetization or branded checkout conversion. The 59.5% acquisition probability on Polymarket is a reminder that patience for Lores is finite. On the setup, Visa looks like the stronger operator today. The 9.03% one-month gain tells me investors already agree, and a P/E near 31 is not cheap, but the growth algorithm, buyback firepower, and agentic commerce optionality justify the premium for me. PayPal fits a different profile. If you like turnarounds, the P/E of about 11, insider buying, and the 31.68% one-month rally suggest a base is forming. One clean quarter of active account growth would strengthen the PayPal thesis materially. Until then, Visa reads as the steadier compounder, while PayPal remains a turnaround story. Act now: the analyst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Visa didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today. Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. Management is shifting the business model beyond core checkout to prioritize financial services, which now represents nearly 20% of transaction margin and is growing at double-digit rates. Branded checkout volume has stabilized at 2% growth for two consecutive quarters, supported by resilience in the U.S. market and accelerating Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) momentum. The company is executing a multi-year technology modernization to converge disparate platforms into a single, modular architecture to reduce complexity and accelerate innovation cycles. Operational focus has shifted toward high-value consumer segments that drive the majority of payment volume, aiming to increase average revenue per account (ARPA) through deeper product attachment. Venmo's evolution into a money management platform is yielding results, with customers using both debit cards and 'Pay with Venmo' generating 9x higher ARPA than peer-to-peer only users. Braintree's performance is being driven by a shift toward value-added services like Risk as a Service and Payouts, which management views as a key differentiator for margin expansion. Full-year guidance was raised for transaction margin dollars and non-GAAP EPS, reflecting stronger-than-expected first-half performance and disciplined cost management. Management expects to achieve at least $1.5 billion in gross run rate cost savings over the next 2-3 years, with $400 million in actions identified for completion by year-end 2026. The company plans to reinvest a significant portion of efficiency savings into high-priority growth areas, including AI-driven risk management and agentic e-commerce capabilities. Guidance assumes online branded checkout will grow in the low single-digit range for the full year, with fourth-quarter transaction margin growth expected to remain slightly positive. Strategic initiatives in 2027 and 2028 are expected to focus on deepening customer engagement and scaling new capabilities like digital identity and agentic payments. The company is on track to remove three organizational layers and increase spans of control this year to improve execution speed and accountability. A transformation-related charge of approximately $120 million to $140 million is anticipated in the second half of 2026 due to restructuring and efficiency actions. Management explicitly declined to comment on specific M&A speculation but stated they remain open to evaluating opportunities that could create superior value compared to their standalone plan. Transaction take rate declined by 7 basis points to 1.61%, driven by branded co-marketing investments and a mix shift toward faster-growing Venmo volume. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management clarified that the $1.5 billion in savings will be reinvested in product development, marketing for financial services, and technology modernization. The goal is to drive stronger operating leverage over time by self-funding growth initiatives through structural cost reductions. Enrique Lores emphasized that the three businesses share critical infrastructure in risk and identity, which provides significant operational synergies. Integrated growth plans for large merchants are already showing that cross-platform offerings can accelerate volume and transaction margin growth. While the U.S. remains stable, European markets are seeing a normalization of growth after years of high performance, alongside increased competitive intensity. Management is countering this by localizing execution and upgrading European merchants to the latest checkout integrations and BNPL offerings. Jamie Miller noted that the updated guidance no longer assumes any interest rate cuts for the remainder of the year. July branded checkout trends are reportedly consistent with the 2% growth seen in the first half, indicating continued stabilization.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. PYPL used its second-quarter 2026 earnings call to present a more defined transformation plan built around financial services, Venmo, Braintree and a rebuilt consumer proposition. Management also raised its full-year non-GAAP guidance after branded checkout stabilized and transaction margin trends exceeded expectations, while stressing that higher investment spending will continue before cost savings become more meaningful. PYPL Sharpens Transformation Plan President and chief executive officer Enrique Lores said that PayPal reorganized around three businesses with clearer accountability: Checkout Solutions, Consumer Financial Services, and Payment Services and Crypto. He framed financial services as the largest future driver of transaction margin growth, supported by credit, Buy Now, Pay Later and broader money-management capabilities across PayPal and Venmo. Lores said that the company is also rebuilding the consumer side of its network, prioritizing high-value users and using improved data and artificial intelligence capabilities to personalize products and increase customer lifetime value. PayPal Sees Branded Checkout Stabilizing Chief financial and operating officer Jamie Miller said that online branded checkout volume grew 2% on a currency-neutral basis for a second consecutive quarter. The company raised its full-year branded checkout outlook to low-single-digit growth. Miller expects 2% growth again in the third quarter, with low-single-digit growth across the second half. U.S. performance improved sequentially, helped by Buy Now, Pay Later and Pay with Venmo, while core European markets also improved. Miller acknowledged greater competitive intensity and said that PayPal is upgrading experiences and local execution. PYPL Builds Around Venmo & Braintree Lores said that Venmo is being repositioned from a peer-to-peer app into a broader money-management platform. Monthly active accounts for the Venmo debit card increased more than 50%. Customers using both Venmo debit and Pay with Venmo generated more than nine times the average revenue per account of peer-to-peer-only users, and that group roughly doubled over the past year. Braintree delivered its ninth consecutive quarter of profitable growth. Management plans to increase the adoption of value-added services, expand technical sales, and unify Braintree, PayPal Complete Payments and Hyperwallet to one foundation. PayPal Raises Full-Year Outlook PYPL reported non-GAAP earnings of $1.38 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.28. Revenues of $8.68 billion also surpassed the consensus estimate of $8.51 billion. The company raised its full-year non-GAAP earnings guidance to $5.38 per share. It expects transaction margin dollars of $15.6 billion, or $14.5 billion excluding interest on customer balances. Third-quarter non-GAAP earnings are expected to decline in the low-single-digit range. Management also projects low-single-digit currency-neutral revenue growth and slightly positive transaction margin dollar growth. PayPal Holdings, Inc. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | PayPal Holdings, Inc. Quote PYPL Balances Savings With Reinvestment Lores said that PayPal remains on track to deliver at least $1.5 billion in gross run-rate savings over two to three years. Miller said that actions identified for 2026 should unlock about $400 million of new annualized gross savings by the year-end. The first phase could produce a $120-$140-million transformation charge in the second half. A Wells Fargo analyst asked when reinvestment would affect transaction margin growth. Miller said that much of the savings will fund technology, risk, product, financial-services and marketing priorities, with stronger operating leverage expected over time. PayPal Defends the Strategy in Q&A A KBW analyst questioned why the new investment plan should deliver better results than prior strategies. Lores pointed to financial services, stronger Venmo monetization, value-added Braintree services, consumer segmentation and a simpler operating model. A JPMorgan analyst asked about synergies among PayPal, Venmo and Braintree. Lores cited shared merchant relationships, technology, risk and identity capabilities, while maintaining that management remains open to alternatives that create greater shareholder value. Management’s overall posture was disciplined rather than promotional. The call centered on stabilizing checkout, funding targeted growth internally and building a more diversified transaction-margin base. Zacks Signals Mixed but Balanced Traits PYPL currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that investors may consider maintaining positions while monitoring estimate revisions. Its Value Score and Momentum Score of A highlight favorable characteristics in those styles. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. The Growth Score of D is weaker, while the VGM Score of B provides a more favorable combined assessment across value, growth and momentum. The Zacks Rank can change as analysts revise estimates following the newly reported results. 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 PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research