PayPal Shares Rise After Solid Q4 Earnings Report

Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. were up more than 6% following the company's fourth-quarter earnings report, in which the company reported a net income of $367 million, or 30 cents per share. That's up 28% from 23 cents per share a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 36 cents, above the FactSet consensus of 34 cents a share. Revenue increased to $2.56 billion from $2.19 billion last year, and was above the FactSet consensus of $2.51 billion. PayPal said the holiday season helped its active user base grow by 6.6 million in the fourth quarter as it processed $20 billion in mobile payment volume. The company's social payment platform, Venmo, processed $2.5 billion of total payment volume, up 174% year-over-year. PayPal plans to later this year roll out an option for users to pay for merchant goods in-app using Venmo. The company also announced a $2 billion stock buyback program.