PayPal stock fell more than 10% on Thursday after a disappointing outlook heightened uncertainty surrounding the payments giant. Although the company beat most fourth-quarter metrics on Wednesday, PayPal projected significantly lower-than-expected revenue. The company was also seeing a slowdown in its user base. PayPal is known for pioneering online checkout during the dot-com era. But the company faces stiff competition from new entrants like Apple Pay and has struggled to dominate e-commerce as online shopping moves to mobile phones. PYPL 1D Line PayPal’s Performance Throughout the Day Alex Criss, who took over as chief executive last September, admitted that PayPal had overhired, lost focus and overreached during the pandemic. He called 2024 a transition year and told CNBC in a phone interview that the company will remain “conservative” in its guidance. Still, investors expect the recovery to take some time and are lowering their expectations while they wait. Average EPS estimates fell 5% after earnings, with less than half of analysts rating the stock a buy, according to FactSet. Just a year ago, two-thirds of analysts were bullish on PayPal. “While we appreciate the energy that PYPL’s new management will bring, those of us who have closely tracked the past two years see it as easy to right the huge ship that is PYPL,” Wells Fargo analyst Andrew said. It’s not surprising that it’s not a great feat.” Bauch said in a note to his clients. He CEO of “Show Me” stock PayPal faced criticism for over-promising before a January 25 product event. The company announced plans for a faster checkout experience powered by artificial intelligence, calling it the “next chapter” for PayPal. This was Chriss’ first big announcement after joining PayPal from Intuit. Earlier, Chris told CNBC that PayPal plans to “shock the world.” The products that followed were widely seen as underwhelming. Don Bilson, an analyst at Gordon Haskett, told clients the CEO didn’t shock the world. “It’s more like putting him to sleep.” “His honeymoon period officially ended yesterday due to a forced communication error,” Bilson said. “The gaffe that caused stock prices to plummet on Thursday is traceable.” [to] In this company presentation, Chris gave investors a glimpse of the most “impactful innovations” the company is piloting. “…PYPL’s presentation didn’t shock anyone because it didn’t feature any new product announcements or initiatives.” During his PayPal earnings call on Wednesday, executives talked about cost-cutting plans and checkouts. Highlighted ways to speed up delivery. As part of that, PayPal Chris told CNBC that they are laying off 9% of their workforce to “drive greater focus and efficiency,” underscoring a conservative approach to leadership, and executives saying ” “I want to assess the points at issue at the meeting,” he said, “I want to implement it before it is actually executed.” During an hour-long call with analysts, Chris talked about gaining trust from the investor community. “As a company, we intend to get back to a track record of delivering on our promises,” he said. Bank of America said PayPal will invest some of its recent cost savings, describing 2024 as a “year of transition” and predicting that “the turnaround will likely take some time.” , the price target was lowered by $2 to $64, and the rating was set as Neutral. Deutsche Bank gave PayPal a ‘Show me your stock’ rating and recent sentiment, saying, ‘The highlight of the call was PYPL’s vision to resolve many of the lingering issues facing the company. . Stay tuned for developments,” said Brian Keene, an analyst at Deutsche Bank. “The good news is that the new CEO is handling the issues well, but questions remain about whether they can be fixed or whether the company is structurally impaired.” — CNBC’s Michael Bloom Contributed to this report.
PayPal plummets as Wall Street likens CEO’s strategy to ‘turning the Titanic around’
