PayPal's third-quarter net revenue rose 2% to $8.58 billion. In its earnings release, PayPal raised its full-year non-GAAP profit outlook while GAAP operating income fell 8%.
The numbers
Q3 2026 results, with change against a year earlier.
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Change |
|---|---|---|
| Net revenue | $8.58B | +2% |
| Total payment volume | $487.1B | +6% |
| Transaction margin dollars | $3.95B | +2% |
| GAAP operating income | $1.40B | -8% |
| Non-GAAP operating income | $1.61B | +3% |
| GAAP diluted EPS | $1.25 | -4% |
| Non-GAAP diluted EPS | $1.45 | +8% |
Profit and cash
GAAP operating margin was 16.3%, down 173 basis points. Non-GAAP operating margin was 18.8%, up 16 basis points.
GAAP net income fell 14% to $1.07 billion. Free cash flow was $1.43 billion, down 17%, and cash flow from operations fell 19% to $1.59 billion.
Users and geography
PayPal had 440 million active accounts and 6.8 billion payment transactions, up 7%. U.S. net revenue grew 5% to $5.0 billion, while international net revenue fell 2% to $3.58 billion.
Outlook and buybacks
PayPal now expects full-year non-GAAP EPS of about $5.60, up from about $5.38 in its July guidance. It also raised full-year non-GAAP transaction margin dollars guidance and reaffirmed GAAP EPS guidance.
For the fourth quarter, it expects non-GAAP EPS of about $1.43 and GAAP EPS of about $1.37.
The company bought back $1.5 billion of stock in the quarter, about 28 million shares. It declared a $0.14 dividend, payable Dec. 24 to holders of record on Dec. 4.
In the release, CEO Enrique Lores said, "We are beginning to see our strategy translate into our financial results".
What this means for you
For users, the quarter shows no change to PayPal or Venmo. We did not check how the PayPal stock price moved on the news; use a live quote for that. The figures matter for investors and merchants watching growth: volume is rising faster than revenue, and GAAP profit is still below last year's level.
Related reading: IBM's Q3 results, Meta's Q3 2026 results and Tesla's Q3 profit drop.
