PayPal Holdings’ (NASDAQ:PYPL) investors will be pleased with their notable 42% return over the last year

If you want to compound wealth in the stock market, you can do so by buying an index fund. But one can do better than that by picking better than average stocks (as part of a diversified portfolio). To wit, the PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) share price is 42% higher than it was a year ago, much better than the market return of around 23% (not including dividends) in the same period. If it can keep that out-performance up over the long term, investors will do very well! On the other hand, longer term shareholders have had a tougher run, with the stock falling 30% in three years.

So let’s investigate and see if the longer term performance of the company has been in line with the underlying business’ progress.

View our latest analysis for PayPal Holdings

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company’s share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During the last year PayPal Holdings grew its earnings per share (EPS) by 25%. This EPS growth is significantly lower than the 42% increase in the share price. This indicates that the market is now more optimistic about the stock.

The company’s earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).

We know that PayPal Holdings has improved its bottom line lately, but is it going to grow revenue? If you’re interested, you could check this free report showing consensus revenue forecasts.

It’s good to see that PayPal Holdings has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 42% in the last twelve months. Notably the five-year annualised TSR loss of 5% per year compares very unfavourably with the recent share price performance. The long term loss makes us cautious, but the short term TSR gain certainly hints at a brighter future. If you would like to research PayPal Holdings in more detail then you might want to take a look at whether insiders have been buying or selling shares in the company.

Of course PayPal Holdings may not be the best stock to buy. So you may wish to see this free collection of growth stocks.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.