PayPal's profits surge 86%

PayPal Holdings Inc. beat Wall Street estimates with an 86 percent increase in quarterly profit due to a widespread shift to online spending amid the pandemic.

The company expects the trends to continue and earnings per share to increase about 25 percent on 22 percent revenue growth for the full year.

The robust earnings growth came just three months after PayPal withdrew full-year guidance as it was uncertain about the pandemic's economic consequences.

PayPal processed $222 billion in payments over the period, up 30 percent from a year earlier, while adding $21.3 million accounts during the quarter, up 137 percent from the previous year.

Revenue increased 25 percent to $5.26 billion, surpassing analysts' estimate of $5.0 billion, while net income jumped to $1.53 billion from $823 million a year before.

The earnings growth was unexpected, with PayPal uncertain about the pandemic's economic consequences, prompting it to withdraw full-year guidance three months ago.