PayPal Q3 transactions hit record total: $247 billion

PayPal reported strong third-quarter financial results on Monday, citing an influx of new customers and a record number of payment transactions. The company said it added 15.2 million net new active accounts in the third quarter, bringing the total number of active accounts to 361 million. Meanwhile, PayPal said payments totaled a record $247 billion in the quarter.

The company said it processed 4 billion payment transactions. The company's payments now total about $1 trillion.

PayPal reported net income of $1.02 billion, or 86 cents per share, on non-GAAP earnings per share of $1.07 and revenue of $5.46 billion, up 25 percent from the same quarter last year. The Wall Street numbers were $0.94 per share and $5.43 billion, respectively.

PayPal said its social payment platform Venmo also had its best quarter ever, processing more than $44 billion in TPV, up 61 percent from the same period last year.

PayPal said it is on track to end the fiscal year with a net increase of 70 million active accounts. The company also said it added 1.5 million merchant accounts during the quarter, which is more than double the number before the COVID outbreak.

Analysts expect PayPal to earn $1.06 per share on revenue of $6.11 billion in the fourth quarter, while PayPal expects total payments to grow by about 30 percent, revenue to grow by 20-25 percent, and adjusted earnings per share to grow by 17-18 percent.

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman said, "PayPal's third quarter was one of our strongest quarters in history. Our growth during this pandemic reinforces the important role we play in our customers' daily lives. Going forward, we are investing in creating the most compelling and valuable digital wallet that will include all forms of digital currency and payments and work seamlessly in both the real and online worlds."