(Bloomberg) — PayPal Holdings Inc. shares fell the most in almost six months after reporting slower growth in payment volume, and company executives said they were seeing softer retail spending as a result of the US tariff wars.
“We did see a slight deceleration” in consumer spending, Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller said on a call with analysts Tuesday, saying goods made in China were taking a particular hit.
PayPal-branded checkout volume increased by 5% in the quarter, down from a 6% increase in the first three months of the year, PayPal said in a presentation Tuesday. The macroeconomic environment and consumer spending has been uneven, PayPal Chief Executive Officer Alex Chriss said on the call, with less robust US spending at businesses most hit by tariffs, such as Asia-based merchant.
PayPal shares slumped as much as 10%, the biggest intraday decline since Feb. 4. They were down 7.8% to $72.13 at 10:15 a.m. in New York.
San Jose, California-based PayPal has attempted to make the brand more prominent, an effort that’s started to bear fruit. The firm raised its outlook, saying it now expects this year’s per-share adjusted earnings to be $5.15 to $5.30 this year, up from a previous forecast of $4.95 to $5.10, PayPal said in a statement Tuesday.
Chriss has been investing in unifying the once-sprawling enterprise. While the strategy hasn’t enjoyed uninterrupted success, revenue gains allowed PayPal to also raise its outlook for transaction margin dollars, which represents how much the company earns from processing transactions after expenses.
That metric, a key measure of Chriss’ success in moving the company into sustained profitability, is now expected at $15.35 billion to $15.5 billion this year, up from a previous forecast of $15.2 billion to $15.4 billion.
PayPal reported a 7% increase in second-quarter transaction margin dollars, which climbed to $3.84 billion.
“We delivered another quarter of profitable growth, driven by continued strength across many of our strategic initiatives,” Chriss said in the statement.
Adjusted net income was $1.37 billion for the second quarter, up 10% from a year earlier. And adjusted diluted earnings per share of $1.40 topped Wall Street analyst estimates.
Under the CEO’s leadership, the firm has focused on monetizing its existing businesses and leveraging the PayPal brand both in person and online. Venmo revenue, for example, increased 20% in the quarter, the company said in a presentation.
PayPal reported $443.5 billion in total payment volume during the second quarter, beating analyst estimates of $435.7 billion.
PayPal recently announced a platform to enable customers to use their domestic digital wallets to make purchases globally, and the company will allow businesses to accept more than 100 different cryptocurrencies at checkout.
In June, PayPal also added a new credit card to its roster to bolster its in-person checkout presence.
–With assistance from Georgie McKay.
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