PayPal Holdings Inc. shares have fallen out of favor with investors this year after a string of resets, but the payment giant’s management team is looking to flip the script with a series of moves intended to drive changes in the business. The company announced Tuesday a new buyback authorization and cost-cutting plan, along with a new chief financial officer, as Electronic Arts Inc.
EA,
+4.53%
veteran Blake Jorgensen is taking over the role. Additionally, PayPal
PYPL,
+9.41%
confirmed that activists at Elliott Management have invested in the company, and executives will continue to cooperate with the Elliott team.
See more: PayPal earnings packed in much more than just numbers PayPal shares were surging more than 13% in premarket trading following the company’s latest results and announcements, which led some analysts to wonder whether the beaten-down name had reached a turning point. Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal highlighted that while PayPal has reached the end of its CFO search process and is in the process of instituting “very large cost cuts,” the company also showed signs of financial progress as revenue accelerated throughout the second quarter and into the month of July. Additionally, PayPal is targeting operating-margin expansion. “Given all this, we think Q2 may, in hindsight, be seen as PYPL’s pivot point toward renewed investor confidence,” Barclays analyst Ramsey El-Assal wrote. He added that, despite PayPal’s update to its currency-neutral revenue guidance, which is now calling for growth at the low end of the company’s prior range, he saw the second-quart …