What happened
Shares of PayPal Holdings (PYPL 0.83%) fell by 24% in April, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence.
The online payments company's shares have more than halved since the beginning of the year as growth stocks as a whole took a steep dive last month.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
The company's share price slide looks all the stranger when you consider that its recently released results demonstrated a solid start to the fiscal year. For the first quarter of 2022, PayPal's net revenue grew 7% year over year with total payment volume (TPV) through its platform rising by 13% year over year to $323 billion. A total of 2.4 million net new active accounts (NNAs) were added during the quarter, and active accounts rose by 9% year over year to 429 million.
Investors probably felt underwhelmed by these numbers as PayPal had reported its strongest first-quarter results in its history in the prior year. Back then, TPV had surged by 50% year over year to $285 billion and the payments company had added an impressive 14.5 million NNAs. The big jump was due to the effects of the pandemic as lockdowns and movement restrictions were still in place, acting as a strong catalyst for the company's rapid growth.
Now what
It's clear the strong growth is now tapering off for PayPal, but it's admirable that the company is still seeing sustained rises in revenue and TPV due to long-term tailwinds. For 2022, the company expects TPV growth to be in the range of 13% to 15% year over year while revenue is forecast to increase by 11% to 13% year over year. NNA additions are expected to be around 10 million and PayPal has stressed that it now goes for high-quality user growth that can increase its revenue per active account.
Meanwhile, PayPal continues with its business development efforts by launching new buy now, pay later offerings in both Japan and Germany. The company also expanded its global partnerships with American Express and Citigroup to widen the payment choices that its customers have and introduced a new savings feature for its digital wallet, Venmo. The continued focus on improving its platform should stand the company in good stead to make its customers more "sticky" and increase their value to the business over time.
