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PayPal (PYPL) is scheduled to report results for its third fiscal quarter before the market opens on October 28, with a conference call scheduled for 8:00 am EDT. What to watch for:

OUTLOOK: During the company's last earnings call, PayPal said it saw Q3 adjusted EPS between $1.18-$1.22. The company also raised its FY25 adjusted EPS view to $5.15-$5.30 from $4.95-$5.10. According to Yahoo Finance data, PayPal is expected to report Q3 EPS of $1.20 and Q3 revenue of $8.23B.

STRONG Q3, WEAK Q4: Truist lowered the firm's price target on PayPal to $65 from $68 and kept a Sell rating on the shares as part of a broader research note previewing Q3 earnings in Payments/FinTech. Overall, Q3 results should be strong as consumer spending has held up well, but the firm also fears that Q4 guidance for certain firms may come in worse than the Street expectations due to tougher comps in Q4 following the strong holiday spending season last year, Truist tells investors in a research note. Investors should continue to be selective when allocating to the payments/FinTech space, the firm added.

SELL PAYPAL: Earlier this month, Goldman Sachs analyst Will Nance downgraded PayPal to Sell from Neutral with a $70 price target. The firm believes PayPal will face several transaction margin headwinds in 2026, including interest rate headwinds and the lapping of a reacceleration of its credit products. Goldman also sees less visibility for the company's branded checkout reacceleration in the near term given softer trends in Germany, tariff disruptions in the U.S., and competing wallet form factors.

ON THE SIDELINES: Meanwhile, Wells Fargo initiated coverage of PayPal with an Equal Weight rating and $74 price target. The firm, who started coverage on 20 stocks in the Payments, Processors & IT Services sector, says the Payments space has suffered from rotation to AI-centric stocks, as well as multiple instances of subpar execution by various companies, but the firm thinks "too many stocks have been painted with the same brush." The Payments sector has "been a minefield for investors," but Wells sees some "particularly attractive opportunities."

Citi analyst Bryan Keane also started coverage of PayPal with a Neutral rating and $78 price target. The company's two-sided network and "strong brand" make it a key player in the payment ecosystem, but the "key metric to watch," namely improvement in PayPal branded growth, has failed to materialize so far, the analyst tells investors.

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