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Understanding PayPal Stock Fundamentals Before Investing

Now trading at a price of $69.27, PayPal has moved -0.9% so far today.

Over the last year, PayPal logged a -3.0% change, with its stock price reaching a high of $93.66 and a low of $55.85. Over the same period, the stock underperformed the S&P 500 index by -18.1%. AThe company's 50-day average price was $72.08. PayPal Holdings, Inc. operates a technology platform that enables digital payments for merchants and consumers worldwide. Based in San Jose, CA, the Large-Cap Industrials company has 24,400 full time employees. PayPal has not offered a dividend during the last year.

Strong Revenue Growth but an Average Current Ratio:

2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Revenue (M) $17,772 $21,454 $25,371 $27,518 $29,771 $31,797
Operating Margins 15% 15% 17% 14% 17% 17%
Net Margins 14% 20% 16% 9% 14% 13%
Net Income (M) $2,459 $4,202 $4,169 $2,419 $4,246 $4,147
Net Interest Expense (M) $115 $209 $232 $304 $347 $366
Depreciation & Amort. (M) $912 $1,189 $1,265 $1,317 $1,072 $825
Diluted Shares (M) 1,187 1,191 1,186 1,158 1,107 1,039
Earnings Per Share $2.07 $3.54 $3.52 $2.09 $3.84 $3.99
EPS Growth n/a 71.01% -0.56% -40.63% 83.73% 3.91%
Avg. Price $105.07 $161.52 $254.17 $108.51 $61.41 $69.9
P/E Ratio 50.27 45.12 71.6 51.67 15.95 17.34
Free Cash Flow (M) $3,367 $5,353 $4,889 $5,107 $4,220 $6,767
CAPEX (M) $704 $866 $908 $706 $623 $683
EV / EBITDA 33.29 43.23 54.37 25.04 11.49 12.72
Total Debt (M) $4,965 $8,939 $8,049 $10,417 $9,676 $9,879
Net Debt / EBITDA -0.66 0.93 0.52 0.51 0.1 0.54
Current Ratio 1.43 1.33 1.22 1.28 1.29 1.28

PayPal benefits from rapidly growing revenues and a flat capital expenditure trend, generally positive cash flows, and decent operating margins with a stable trend. The company's financial statements show a strong EPS growth trend and healthy leverage levels. Furthermore, PayPal has just enough current assets to cover current liabilities, as shown by its current ratio of 1.28.

a Very Low P/E Ratio but Trades Above Its Graham Number:

PayPal has a trailing twelve month P/E ratio of 15.4, compared to an average of 24.03 for the Industrials sector. Based on its EPS guidance of $4.89, the company has a forward P/E ratio of 14.7. The 13.1% compound average growth rate of PayPal's historical and projected earnings per share yields a PEG ratio of 1.18. This implies that the shares are fairly valued. In contrast, PayPal is likely overvalued compared to the book value of its equity, since its P/B ratio of 3.29 is higher than the sector average of 2.89. The company's shares are currently trading 64.9% below their Graham number.

Analysts Give PayPal an Average Rating of Buy:

The 32 analysts following PayPal have set target prices ranging from $62.0 to $120.0 per share, for an average of $82.68 with a buy rating. The company is trading -16.2% away from its average target price, indicating that there is an analyst consensus of some upside potential.

PayPal has an average amount of shares sold short because 3.1% of the company's shares are sold short. Institutions own 80.3% of the company's shares, and the insider ownership rate stands at 0.14%, suggesting a small amount of insider investors. The largest shareholder is Vanguard Group Inc, whose 9% stake in the company is worth $5,967,355,851.

The above analysis is intended for educational purposes only and was performed on the basis of publicly available data. It is not to be construed as a recommendation to buy or sell any security. Any buy, sell, or other recommendations mentioned in the article are direct quotations of consensus recommendations from the analysts covering the stock, and do not represent the opinions of Market Inference or its writers. Past performance, accounting data, and inferences about market position and corporate valuation are not reliable indicators of future price movements. Market Inference does not provide financial advice. Investors should conduct their own review and analysis of any company of interest before making an investment decision.

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