PayPal filed an 8-K with the SEC on July 28, 2026 to report its second-quarter results — and it was a beat-and-raise: revenue and adjusted profit came in ahead of Wall Street's estimates, and the company lifted its full-year profit guidance. The catch worth understanding is that profit is still slightly lower than a year ago, and the user base has essentially stopped growing.

The numbers

• Revenue: $8.7 billion, up 5% year-on-year (about 3% excluding currency swings) — ahead of the roughly $8.47 billion analysts expected.
• Adjusted (non-GAAP) EPS: $1.38 versus the ~$1.28 the Street penciled in — a clear beat. On a reported (GAAP) basis EPS was $1.25. Note both figures are actually down slightly from a year ago (GAAP −3%, non-GAAP −1%).
• Total payment volume (TPV): $486.4 billion, up 10% — the money actually flowing through PayPal grew much faster than revenue.
• Active accounts: 439 million, up just 0.3% and down about 0.2 million from the prior quarter. But transactions per active account rose 3% to 60 — existing users are transacting more.
• Margins: operating margin narrowed (non-GAAP down ~248 basis points to 17.4%) — the profit-per-dollar squeeze is the soft spot.
• Guidance: raised full-year non-GAAP EPS to a $5.30–$5.40 range (from $5.15–$5.30), and now sees full-year transaction-margin dollars around $15.6 billion — reversing an earlier call for a slight decline.
• Cash returns: $1.8 billion of free cash flow, $1.5 billion of buybacks in the quarter, and a $0.14 dividend declared.

What an "8-K Item 2.02" actually is

An 8-K is the form US companies use to tell the SEC about a material event between their scheduled quarterly and annual reports — think of it as an official "something just happened" bulletin. The specific tag here, Item 2.02 "Results of Operations and Financial Condition," is the one companies file to formally release their earnings. The full press release with all the tables is attached as an exhibit (Exhibit 99.1). So when you see a company's quarterly numbers hit the news, this 8-K is usually the primary source they came from.

Why it matters

PayPal's story this quarter is a useful lesson in reading beneath a headline "beat." The beat is real, but it's happening while profit is flat-to-down and the number of people using PayPal has plateaued. The growth is coming from two other places: more volume per relationship (TPV up 10%) and more transactions per user (up 3%), plus a shift toward higher-value products like Venmo, Braintree and financial services. Raising full-year guidance signals management is confident the profit trajectory is improving. The tension to watch is margin compression and a maturing user base — a payments company that isn't adding many new accounts has to squeeze more value from the ones it has. None of this tells you where the stock should go; it tells you what levers the business is actually pulling.

Beginner takeaway

"Beating estimates" means doing better than analysts expected — not necessarily growing versus last year. PayPal did both beat and raise its outlook, which markets generally read as encouraging, yet its profit is still a touch below a year ago and its user count is flat. Always separate "beat the forecast" from "grew the business" — they're different questions.

FAQ

Did PayPal actually make more money than last year? Revenue yes (up 5%), but earnings per share were slightly lower year-on-year on both a reported and adjusted basis. It beat expectations, which had been set low.

What does "raised guidance" mean? The company increased its own forecast for full-year profit — here, adjusted EPS to $5.30–$5.40. It's a signal of management confidence, not a guarantee.

Why is flat active-account growth a big deal? PayPal built its story on a huge, growing user base. With accounts near 439 million and barely moving, future growth leans more on getting existing users to transact more and on higher-margin products.

Is TPV the same as revenue? No. Total payment volume is all the money flowing through PayPal's rails ($486 billion); revenue is the much smaller slice PayPal keeps as fees. TPV growing faster than revenue hints at pricing and mix pressure.

As of July 28, 2026. Source: official SEC filing — read it directly here. We summarise filings for education and may make errors, so always verify against the official document. Educational content only — not investment advice, not a buy/sell recommendation.