Digital payments platform PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) reported revenue ahead of Wall Street’s expectations in Q3 CY2025, with sales up 7.3% year on year to $8.42 billion. Its non-GAAP profit of $1.34 per share was 11.2% above analysts’ consensus estimates.
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PayPal (PYPL) Q3 CY2025 Highlights:
- Volume: $458.1 billion vs analyst estimates of $447.5 billion (8.4% year-on-year growth, 2.4% beat)
- Revenue: $8.42 billion vs analyst estimates of $8.24 billion (7.3% year-on-year growth, 2.2% beat)
- Pre-tax Profit: $1.53 billion (18.2% margin, 16.9% year-on-year growth)
- Adjusted EPS: $1.34 vs analyst estimates of $1.20 (11.2% beat)
- Adjusted EPS guidance for the full year is $5.37 at the midpoint, beating analyst estimates by 2.4%
- Market Capitalization: $67.12 billion
Company Overview
Originally spun off from eBay in 2015 after being acquired by the auction giant in 2002, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send, receive, and process payments online and in person.
Revenue Growth
A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Any business can have short-term success, but a top-tier one grows for years. Thankfully, PayPal’s 10.1% annualized revenue growth over the last five years was decent. Its growth was slightly above the average financials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.
Long-term growth is the most important, but within financials, a half-decade historical view may miss recent interest rate changes and market returns. PayPal’s recent performance shows its demand has slowed as its annualized revenue growth of 6.2% over the last two years was below its five-year trend. 
Note: Quarters not shown were determined to be outliers, impacted by outsized investment gains/losses that are not indicative of the recurring fundamentals of the business.
This quarter, PayPal reported year-on-year revenue growth of 7.3%, and its $8.42 billion of revenue exceeded Wall Street’s estimates by 2.2%.
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Volume
The aggregate volume of transactions and loan originations processed by financial firms directly impacts their revenue and are fundamental to understanding their growth trajectories.
PayPal’s volumes have grown at an annual rate of 15.4% over the last five years, better than the broader financials industry and faster than its total revenue. When analyzing PayPal’s volumes over the last two years, we can see that growth decelerated to 9.1% annually.
In Q3, PayPal’s volumes were $458.1 billion, beating analysts’ expectations by 2.4%. This print was 8.4% higher than the same quarter last year.
Key Takeaways from PayPal’s Q3 Results
We were impressed by how significantly PayPal blew past analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also glad its transaction volumes outperformed Wall Street’s estimates. Overall, we think this was a decent quarter with some key metrics above expectations. The stock traded up 14.7% to $80.52 immediately following the results.
Indeed, PayPal had a rock-solid quarterly earnings result, but is this stock a good investment here? If you’re making that decision, you should consider the bigger picture of valuation, business qualities, as well as the latest earnings. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here, it’s free for active Edge members.
