After seeing its shares lose roughly two-thirds of their value in the past year, PayPal Holdings Inc. delivered a packed earnings report Tuesday, announcing a new chief financial officer, buyback authorization and cost-savings program, while also confirming that activists at Elliott Management Corp. have taken a stake in the company. Additionally, the company topped expectations with its second-quarter financial results while delivering a mixed update on guidance for the full year.
PayPal shares
PYPL,
+1.20%
jumped 12% in after-hours trading Tuesday, after rocketing to their best day in two years last week amid reports that Elliott had taken a stake in the business. Elliott confirmed the involvement in Tuesday’s report, just as the activist investor did Monday afternoon with struggling Pinterest Inc.
PINS,
+11.61%
as it reported earnings “As one of PayPal’s largest investors, with an approximately $2 billion investment, Elliott strongly believes in the value proposition at PayPal,” Elliott Managing Partner Jesse Cohn said in a statement included in PayPal’s release. “PayPal has an unmatched and industry-leading footprint across its payments businesses and a right to win over the near and long term.” He added that PayPal’s report “highlights a number of steps that have been underway and are being initiated to help realize the significant value opportunity” in the business. The company is bringing on Electronic Arts Inc.
EA,
-1.51%
Chief Financial Officer Blake Jorgensen to serve in the same role at PayPal. He replaces John Rainey, who stepped down earlier this year to become Walmart Inc.’s
WMT,
+0.11%
CFO. Even before Jorgensen joins the company Wednesday, PayPal executives announced a variety of financial initiatives including a new $15 billion share-repurchase authorization and cost-savings program that they expect will deliver $900 million in savings this fiscal year and $1.3 billion in savings next year. The executives are targeting operating margin expansion for 2023. The leadership team will be getting an additional shakeup in the months to come as PayPal announced that Chief Product Officer Mark Britto plans to retire at the end of the year, and a search for his replacement is ong …