11:55 AM EDT, 04/30/2024 (MT Newswires) -- CFRA, an independent research provider, has provided MT Newswires with the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:

Our target price of $71, up $12, values shares at 14.8x our 2025 EPS view, deeply discounted to PYPL's historical average given market share concerns. Importantly, PYPL has changed its methodology to include stock-based compensation and related employer payroll taxes (e.g., 2021-2023 adj. earnings are now 22% lower) in its results to enhance transparency. To reflect this change and Q1 results, we lower our 2024 EPS view to $4.26 from $5.20 and reduce 2025's to $4.80 from $5.70. PYPL posted Q1 adjusted EPS of $1.08 versus $0.85 a year ago, on revenue of $7.70 billion (a 2% beat). Total payment volume jumped 14% Y/Y with unbranded card processing (+26%) leading the way. Encouragingly, PYPL's branded checkout (i.e., higher margins) showed signs of life with 7% growth vs. 5% in the prior quarter. Additionally, active accounts rose 1 million Q/Q to 427 million, the first sequential growth since late 2022. We remain at Hold as competition from players such as Apple Pay has reduced PYPL's long-term growth profile.