PayPal filed its 10-Q with the SEC, and its figures are now in our data. Revenue over the twelve months to Q3 2026 was $34.3 billion, which rose 4.4% on the year before. That growth rate was down 1.3 percentage points on the rate a quarter earlier.
Source: SEC EDGAR XBRL company facts. Latest period shown: FY26 Q3.
View chart data
| Period | Revenue growth, TTM YoY | Operating margin (TTM) | FCF margin (TTM) |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY24 Q4 | 6.8% | 16.7% | 21.3% |
| FY25 Q1 | 4.8% | 17.8% | 18.7% |
| FY25 Q2 | 4.1% | 18.2% | 16.4% |
| FY25 Q3 | 4.5% | 18.2% | 16.9% |
| FY25 Q4 | 4.3% | 18.3% | 16.8% |
| FY26 Q1 | 5.8% | 17.9% | 16.3% |
| FY26 Q2 | 5.7% | 17.4% | 19.3% |
| FY26 Q3 | 4.4% | 17.0% | 18.4% |
The main points
Net income fell 3.9% over the year while free cash flow rose 13.2%, indicating that reported profit and cash are moving at different speeds.
Profit and margins
Cash flow rose while earnings fell, telling different stories. The trailing operating margin was 17.0%, down 1.2 percentage points from a year earlier. Meanwhile, the trailing net margin stood at 13.8%. Net income over the twelve months was $4.7 billion, which fell 3.9% on the year before.
Cash flow
Cash generation improved as operating cash flow over the twelve months reached $7.1 billion, up 10.4% on the year before. Capital spending was $794.0 million, or 2.3% of revenue. Consequently, free cash flow, defined as operating cash flow less capital spending, was $6.3 billion, up 13.2% on the year before. This represented an 18.4% free-cash-flow margin, up 1.4 percentage points from a year earlier.
The share base
The average diluted share count fell 8.9% over the year.
How today compares
In the context of past results, today’s free-cash-flow margin of 18.4% is higher than 33% of the company’s own past quarterly readings, which have ranged from −1.3% to 44.0%. Today’s operating margin of 17.0% is higher than 76% of past readings (13.5% to 18.3%). Additionally, today’s twelve-month revenue growth rate of 4.4% is higher than 5% of past readings (4.1% to 25.2%).
Guidance
The company raised its fy’26 guidance for non-gaap EPS (adjusted) to $5.38.
The valuation angle
Our model translates these figures into value. In our model, growth 5 percentage points lower would lower the value by 25.7%, and 5 percentage points higher would raise it by 33.7%. A free-cash-flow margin 1 percentage point lower would lower it by 5.3%.
What to watch
The next filing will show whether the trends above continue, slow or reverse.
