PayPal Q3 2026: EPS Beats as Buybacks Drive Share Count Down
As seen on the 24/7 Wall St. homepage on October 27, 2026.
The EPS beat came from a shrinking share base: the diluted share count fell to 858 million from 960 million a year ago while revenue missed expectations. Management still raised full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance to about $5.60 from about $5.38.
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Buybacks are doing the work behind PayPal's Q3 2026 beat: adjusted non-GAAP EPS of $1.45 topped the $1.31 consensus estimate, helped by a diluted share count that shrank sharply over the past year.
Revenue of $8.58 billion grew about 2% year over year while missing expectations, with international revenue declining and restructuring charges weighing on GAAP operating income even as non-GAAP operating margin expanded.
Beneath the softer top line, volume trends held up, with total payment volume rising 6% to $487.1 billion. U.S. net revenue growth partially offset the international drag.
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Encouraged by those dynamics, management raised its full-year non-GAAP EPS guidance to approximately $5.60 from a prior target of approximately $5.38, and guided Q4 non-GAAP EPS to approximately $1.43. PayPal also declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.14 per share, payable December 24 to shareholders of record December 4.
PayPal has now beaten the non-GAAP consensus estimate in seven of the past eight quarters, with Q4 2025 the lone miss. The question is whether revenue growth can accelerate to match the per-share momentum, or whether buybacks keep doing the heavy lifting.
Mentioned: PYPL