PayPal Rises After Being Added As Payment Option By Apple

PayPal (PYPL) is rising after Apple (AAPL) added it as a payment option, which JPMorgan analyst Tien-tsin Huang sees as a “significant,” but difficult to size, win for the payment company. Also viewing the announcement as positive, his peer at Craig-Hallum argued that this is the type of “expanding relationships” that makes PayPal a potential “3 year double.”

APPLE AVAILABILITY: In a post to the company’s corporate blog last night, PayPal COO Bill Ready announced that its customers will be able to pay for App Store, Apple Music, iTunes and iBooks purchases across iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch devices using their PayPal account. The functionality across Apple services started yesterday in Canada and Mexico, and will be rolling out in other countries including the U.S. “soon after,” Ready stated in the post.

‘SIGNIFICANT’ DEAL: Commenting on PayPal’s announcement, JPMorgan analyst Tien-tsin Huang told investors that while difficult to size, the deal is “significant” as it provides “yet another example of a payment foe” choosing to work with PayPal as a payment partner. The analyst reiterated an Overweight rating on PayPal’s shares.

THREE YEAR DOUBLE: In a research note of his own, Craig-Hallum analyst Brad Berning pointed out that PayPal’s deal with Apple could expand the former’s total payment volume addressable market by about $70B in 2018 with the potential to contribute 0.7%-2% to the TPV growth and 0.6%-1.7% to net revenue growth. The analyst also argued that this exemplifies the type of “expanding relationships” and “enhancing consumer experience” opportunities that lead him to believe PayPal can be a “three-year double” despite the run in the stock already. Berning reiterated a Buy rating and $65 price target on PayPal’s shares.

PRICE ACTION: In morning trading, shares of PayPal have gained about 3.5% to $56.65.