PayPal Holdings Inc. reported its fourth-quarter 2024 earnings, surpassing Wall Street's expectations for both earnings per share (EPS) and revenue. The company posted an adjusted EPS of $1.19, beating the consensus estimate of $1.12, and revenue of $8.37 billion, which was above the expected $8.26 billion. Despite these strong results, PayPal's stock experienced a significant decline, falling by as much as 13% on the day of the announcement. The company's total payment volume (TPV) grew by 7% year-over-year to $437.8 billion, slightly below the anticipated $438.2 billion. PayPal also announced a new $15 billion stock repurchase program, with plans to buy back approximately $6 billion in shares in 2025. For the first quarter of 2025, PayPal forecasts an adjusted EPS between $1.15 and $1.17, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.13, and for the full year, it expects an adjusted EPS of $4.95 to $5.10, slightly above the $4.90 forecast. The company's transaction margin improved to 47% from 45.8% the previous year, though its take rate decreased to 1.91% from 1.96%. PayPal's focus on profitable growth and new product initiatives like Fastlane and PayPal Everywhere contributed to these results. Additionally, Venmo's TPV increased by 10%, while Braintree's TPV growth decelerated to 2%. PayPal added 8.8 million active accounts in 2024, and transaction margin dollars grew by 7% to $14.7 billion.