PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: PYPL) saw its shares catch some rays Thursday after announcing hefty first-quarter results on Wednesday.
The global technology platform and digital payments leader brought out figures highlighting revenue growth of 17% to $2.975 billion, or 19% on a foreign currency neutral (FX-neutral) basis.
Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) earnings per diluted share (EPS) displayed growth of 6% to $0.32, non-GAAP EPS growth of 19% to $0.44. Operating cash flow was $751 million, while free cash flow was $603 million.
These numbers were impressive because of the number of subscribers the service has taken on. PayPal added six million active customer accounts, and ended the quarter (which concluded March 31) with 203 million active customer accounts, including 16 million merchant accounts. The number of payment transactions was up 23% to 1.7 billion, with 32 payment transactions per active account on a trailing 12-month basis, up 12%.
Lastly, total payment volume rumbled over $99 billion, up 23%, or 25% on an FX-neutral basis.
The company is feeling its strength; PayPal also announced Wednesday that its board of directors has authorized a new stock repurchase program, under which the company may repurchase up to $5 billion in outstanding common stock. This program will become effective after completion of the company's January 2016 stock repurchase program.
As of March 31 of this year, approximately $488 million remained available for stock repurchases under this prior authorization.
Stockholders of PayPal were even more excited by the progressing price. Shares grew $2.84 each, or 6.4%, to $47.25 U.S. Thursday, surpassing Wednesday’s all-time high of $45.04 U.S.