Shortly after PayPal (NYSE: PYPL) announced a partnership with Dutch payment provider Adyen to launch Fastlane, PayPal’s checkout solution tailored for large enterprises and marketplace clients in the U.S., its stock soared to a year-high, eliciting excitement from Wall Street analysts.
In fact, PayPal’s shares attained their highest closing price in over a year on August 20, following the integration of Adyen into Fastlane, which was introduced earlier this month, signifying the continuation of a collaboration that has enabled Adyen’s customers to utilize Venmo and PayPal’s buy-now-pay-later (BNPL) features.
Wall Street’s prediction for PayPal stock
At present, the average 12-month PayPal stock forecast from 31 Wall Street analysts over the past three months is $74.92, indicating a potential increase of 4.84% from its current price, with the lowest estimate set at $65 (-9%) and the highest reaching $90 (+25.95%).
Concurrently, these analysts have assigned the PayPal stock a ‘moderate buy’ recommendation, resulting from 17 suggesting a ‘hold,’ 14 advocating a ‘buy,’ and no ‘sell’ advisories, based on the latest TipRanks data gathered by Finbold on August 22.
Analysts’ views on PayPal stock
One of the more bullish analysts is Dan Dolev, a senior analyst at Mizuho, who has maintained an ‘outperform’ rating for PYPL shares subsequent to the Adyen announcement, asserting that the Fastlane product must be sufficiently compelling to engage a direct competitor to PayPal-owned Braintree.
In his latest commentary, where he reiterated his firm’s $90 price target for PayPal shares, he posited that this initiative could bolster overall usage of Fastlane, which he previously indicated has a total addressable market of $3 trillion, with realistically accessible figures at $1.43 trillion, thus:
“We see the potential for a transaction margin increase of $1 billion to $1.5 billion [5-10% upside]. (…) Investors should begin to regard PYPL as a comprehensive payments platform instead of the narrow view of solely branded checkout.”
Additionally, JPMorgan (NYSE: JPM) analyst Tien-Tsin Huang maintained an ‘overweight’ rating on PayPal stock, raising his firm’s price target from $77 to $80, along with various other analysts who have also revised their forecasts for PayPal stock upwards.
Evaluation of PayPal stock price
Currently, PayPal’s stock is trading at $71.46, reflecting a 6.40% increase over the week, contributing to a 17.59% gain over the past month, and showing a cumulative rise of 16.27% year-to-date (YTD), based on the most recent chart data as of August 22.
It is also significant to note that the market cap of PayPal’s USD stablecoin (PYUSD), launched in August 2023, has experienced a substantial surge in recent weeks, surpassing $960 million, indicating a growth of over 500% from the $159.06 million recorded at the beginning of the year, despite escalating competition in the stablecoin industry.
Overall, the sentiment among analysts regarding the PayPal stock outlook is predominantly favorable, supported by various factors. However, fluctuations in the stock market can occasionally be unpredictable, making it crucial to conduct personal research and stay informed with pertinent news when making investment choices.
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