PayPal Stock: Should You Buy the Current Dip?

Fintech leader PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) delivered a solid earnings report on May 9 for the first quarter (ended March 31), with revenue and earnings surpassing consensus estimates. Wall Street is mainly concerned about the slow pace of year-over-year expansion in adjusted operating margins (100 basis points expected, as compared to the previous estimate of 125 basis points) and a 2 million sequential decline in the number of active accounts in the first quarter. The stock is pressured by a slowdown in the higher-margin branded checkout business (its legacy business that enables merchants to process transactions through PayPal's payment network and includes PayPal's checkout button), intensifying competition from other digital wallets, and currency fluctuations.