PayPal Earnings Miss on Increased Bad Loan Reserves

(C) Reuters. PayPal Holdings Inc Earnings, Revenue Miss in Q1

Investing.com – PayPal on Wednesday reported first-quarter earnings and revenue that missed analysts’ forecasts on higher provisions for bad loans as the Covid-19 crisis has left many individuals and businesses on the brink of financial ruin.

PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ:PYPL) shares lost 2.61% in after-hours trade following the report.

First-quarter performance was hurt by a $237 million increase in credit loss reserves due to revised macroeconomic projections, the company said.

PayPal announced earnings per share of $0.66 on revenue of $4.62 billion. Analysts polled by Investing.com anticipated EPS of $0.76 on revenue of $4.75 billion. That with compared with an EPS of $0.78 on revenue of $4.13 billion in the same period a year before. PayPal had reported EPS of $0.86 on revenue of $4.96 billion in the previous quarter.

“In March, the deteriorating environment resulting from COVID-19 further impacted PayPal’s business, affecting both volumes and revenue,” the company said.

The higher credit provisions offset a rise in activity as the company reported 20.2 billion new active accounts for the quarter, up from 9.3 million in fourth quarter of 2019, though payment transactions were down to 3.26 million from 3.46 million in the fourth quarter.

Total payment volume rose 18% to $191 billion year on year.

The company said it expected revenue to grow about 15% FX-neutral revenue growth for the second quarter and earnings to grow by 15% to 20%. Analysts are expecting EPS of $0.77 and revenue of $4.81 billion in the upcoming quarter.

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