PayPal Holdings (PYPL) announced earnings and outperformed top- and bottom-line expectations, observes growth stock expert and London-based advisor Nicholas Vardy, editor of Smart Money Masters.
The company also increased its revenue and earnings forecasts as quarterly revenue surged 19%. PayPal further announced a $5 billion share buyback program.
Carl Icahn has bet on PayPal. As for PayPal President and CEO Dan Schulman, he sees two significant tailwinds for the company.
First, the digitization of money is marking a shift from cash to digital currencies. Second, the mobile phone is redefining retail payments.
Ironically, this is something that U.S. consumers see a lot less of than the rest of the world. Today, PayPal customers are paying in-app, online, or in-store, with their credit cards or their bank accounts.
From my perch in “Old Europe,” I am struck by how behind the United States is in this regard compared with many European countries.
In Sweden, cash has all but disappeared. Even beggars have been given payment processors so that passers-by can donate digitally. Cash use has plummeted in London with the advent of “contactless payment.”
Even in the former Eastern Bloc countries, you can pay by mobile phone, even in the tiniest of businesses, thanks to a network of contactless payment processors.
At the same time, as my recent trips to Germany and Belgium confirmed, other European countries are as behind as the United States.
One thing is clear. The cashless revolution is coming and inevitable. The future is already here. It is just taking a little longer to get to some countries than others. All of this is bullish for PayPal in the years ahead.
