PayPal posts $1.10 billion net profit for Q1 helped by cryptocurrency push

PayPal shares rose by as much as 5.5 percent after reporting that its first-quarter earnings net profit rose to $1.10 billion from $84 million a year earlier that were stronger than analysts had expected.

The mobile payments company added 14.5 million net new active accounts, bringing its total user base to 392 million.

Revenue grew 31 percent on year in the quarter that ended on Mar. 31.

CEO Dan Schulman identified cryptocurrency as their key growth engine with half of the crypto users opening their PayPal app daily.

Paypal made a big push into crypto in the last six months, allowing US users to buy, sell, and check out with cryptocurrencies.

For the second quarter, PayPal sees adjusted earnings of $1.12 per share on $6.25 billion in revenue, higher than the $1.10 in adjusted earnings per share on $6.16 billion in revenue that analysts expect.

For 2021, PayPal expects revenue to grow 20 percent to $25.75 billion, and adjusted earnings per share to grow 21 percent to $4.70.

Analysts had been looking for $4.57 in adjusted earnings per share and $25.71 billion in revenue.