Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng has initiated coverage on fintech firms PayPal Holdings Inc. and Block Inc. with Buy ratings.
Ng initiated coverage of PayPal with a $144 price target (19 percent upside).
Ng also initiated Block with a $173 price target (20 percent upside).
Ng saw PayPal’s return to profit growth of over 20 percent beyond this year, driven by product initiatives and secular tailwinds from the digitization of payments, e-commerce growth, and international expansion.
PayPal reported quarterly earnings of $1.11 per share, missing the consensus of $1.12. PayPal also reported Q4 sales of $6.90 billion, beating the $6.86 billion consensus.
Ng thinks Block benefits from Cash App’s growing monetization from new product features while enjoying ongoing user growth from the network effects of people-to-people payments and the acquisition of Buy Now, Pay Later platform Afterpay Ltd..
Block reported Q4 revenue of $4.08 billion, up 29 percent Y/Y, beating the consensus of $4.03 billion. EPS of $0.27 beat the consensus of $0.22.
