PayPal Beats Third Quarter Estimates and Raises Full Year Profit Forecast

PayPal reported third quarter results on Tuesday, October 27, 2026, with adjusted earnings that came in above Wall Street expectations and a higher profit forecast for the full year. The company posted adjusted earnings of 1.45 dollars a share, compared with an analyst estimate of 1.31 dollars and 1.34 dollars a year earlier, according to Reuters. The result pointed to progress in a multi-year turnaround that management has described as still in its early stages.

Profit beats, revenue just short

Net revenue grew 2 percent to 8.58 billion dollars in the quarter. That figure came in slightly below the analyst consensus of 8.72 billion dollars tracked by FactSet, according to reporting by Barron's. Total payment volume rose 7 percent on a foreign exchange neutral basis to 487.1 billion dollars, Reuters reported. Adjusted operating margin expanded by 16 basis points to 18.8 percent, showing that cost controls helped profit even as revenue growth stayed modest.

Higher guidance for the year

PayPal raised its full year 2026 adjusted profit forecast to about 5.60 dollars a share. The new outlook compares with a previous forecast of 5.38 dollars and Wall Street expectations in a range of 5.38 dollars to 5.39 dollars. For the fourth quarter, the company expects adjusted profit of 1.43 dollars a share. That guidance sits above Street expectations of 1.35 dollars and above the 1.23 dollars recorded a year earlier. The raised forecast suggests management sees the cost program and payment volume growth carrying into the final months of the year.

Cost savings and job cuts

The company said it is on track to reach 700 million dollars in gross run rate cost savings by the end of 2026. Those savings come in part from cuts to more than 2,000 jobs and a reduction of more than 25 percent in managerial roles. PayPal set a broader goal of at least 1.5 billion dollars in savings over the next two to three years. The cuts form a central part of the turnaround plan, which aims to produce more durable and profitable growth from the existing payments business rather than relying only on faster revenue gains.

What management said

Enrique Lores, chief executive of PayPal, said in the earnings release: "We are making good progress in our multi-year transformation, and while there is more work to do, we are increasingly confident in our path to durable, profitable growth and remain focused on execution." Lores also told The Wall Street Journal: "We are positive with the results that we delivered, but this is a multi-year process. This is only the beginning."

Shares and background

PayPal shares closed Monday, October 26, down 3.6 percent at 54.99 dollars, Barron's reported, and the stock had fallen 5.8 percent for the year before the results. As background, Reuters previously reported that PayPal received a buyout offer of 60.50 dollars a share from Stripe and private equity firm Advent International. That offer valued the company at about 53 billion dollars and was reportedly deemed inadequate by the board. The earnings report did not change that background, but it gave investors a fresh test of whether the current plan can lift profit without a change in ownership.