It’s been a good month for PayPal. The financial services firm reported stronger-than-expected second-quarter results and a big-name fund management firm disclosed a stake in the company. Leading tech investor Paul Meeks explains why he thinks the stock is a buying opportunity. “Unfortunately, PayPal suffers from what I call self-inflicted wounds. They’ve given guidance, quarter after quarter, for the past few years and miserably missed their own guidance. The company has a reputation for not being tightly managed,” Meeks, portfolio manager. at Independent Solutions Wealth Management, he told CNBC Pro Talks last week. But the company’s second-quarter earnings report was a “positive positive surprise” and has piqued his interest in the stock. PayPal posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of 93 cents for the second quarter, beating the consensus estimate of 86 cents per share, according to Refinitiv. The company also raised its full-year adjusted EPS forecast. The company also beat revenue and announced projected cost savings of $900 million this year. “I’m starting to get more intrigued because they’ve shown that they’ve gotten some credibility back. I think PayPal could be a buy here,” Meeks said. PayPal’s Colorful History PayPal’s reputation as one of the world’s largest online payment processors belies its relatively short history. The company was born out of the 2000 merger between online bank X.com, a company founded by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, and software company Confinity. Musk had a brief stint as CEO of the merged company between April 2000 and October 2000. PayPal was acquired by e-commerce giant eBay in 2002 for $1.5 billion, before splitting- se as a separate entity in 2015. Read more Have the bottom markets arrived? The strategist reveals the indicators to watch closely as stocks rally. Is “super cheap” Meta a buy or a bug? That’s what top tech investor Paul Meeks says Tesla’s valuation doesn’t make sense until it gets to that level, the fund manager says. The company marked a new chapter in its colorful history earlier this month when it announced in its second-quarter earnings call that it had entered into an information-sharing agreement on value creation with Elliott Management . “As one of PayPal’s largest investors, with approximately $2 billion invested, Elliott strongly believes in PayPal’s value proposition,” Elliott managing partner Jesse Cohn said in the filing. Meeks said he believes Elliott’s involvement in PayPal lends “some credence” to the latter’s investment thesis, given Elliott’s reputation as a “crackerjack activist investor.” The news came just a day after Elliott said it had become the lead investor in social media operator Pinterest. But Meeks said he has “more confidence” in PayPal and would “still stay away” from Pinterest given the changing social media landscape. PayPal shares closed Tuesday around $102. The stock is still down nearly 50% this year, though it’s up nearly 40% in the past month.
[ad_2]
Source link
