PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) has seen positive growth, outperforming the S&P 500 with ease. The stock has risen by approximately 72.1% this year compared to the S&P 500’s gain of 1.2%. The strong stock performance has placed it on the WhaleWisdom Heatmap, landing with a ranking of 16, up from 46. PayPal will next report results on Monday, November 2, 2020.

PayPal operates a global online payment system that serves as an electronic alternative to traditional paper methods. It acts as a digital wallet for many, convenient for small businesses to invoice, and offers financial products.

Buying Spree

Looking at second-quarter activity by the top hedge funds and institutions, it seems that PayPal has some fans. Of hedge funds, 80 created new positions, 132 added to existing holding, 23 closed out, and 175 reduced their stakes. Overall, hedge funds increased aggregate holdings by about 6.2% to approximately 225.8 million from 212.6 million. Similarly, institutions were also buying, increasing their aggregate holdings by about 0.6% to approximately 978.8 million from 972.7 million.

(WhaleWisdom)

High Expectations

Third quarter expectations and multi-year estimates are very favorable for PayPal. Analysts anticipate that earnings increased to $0.94 in the third quarter, representing approximately 54.6% year-over-year growth. Meanwhile, revenue is estimated to have increased to about $5.4 billion, a growth rate of 23.6%.

For the year, analysts expect to see about 20.6% growth in earnings, with estimates of $3.74 and rising to $5.54 by 2022. Additionally, revenue is forecast to grow by approximately 20.4% in 2020, 19.4% in 2021, and 18.2% in 2022, leading to revenue of roughly $30.2 billion in 2022.

Analysts Are Bullish

Analysts are positive on PayPal, with Susquehanna International Group, LLP’s analyst, James Friedman, raised PayPal’s price target to $235 from $220, keeping a Positive rating on the stock. Friedman cited the economy’s increase in debit transactions, which costs PayPal less than credit card transactions. Barclays Investment Bank’s Ramsey El-Assal also sees growth ahead for PayPal and raised the firm’s price target to $235 from $228, keeping an Overweight rating on the shares.

Positive Outlook

PayPal appears to be thriving, despite a pandemic that has hit so many other businesses hard. The company has a reputation as one of the safest and most convenient methods for performing monetary transactions online. Top analysts offer encouraging price targets and multi-year predictions for the stock. With its financial track record and continued potential for growth, investors have an opportunity, which is why hedge funds have been so bullish.

Coupa Software Inc. (COUP) has seen impressive growth in recent months after a short dip in February and March, coinciding with the start of the coronavirus pandemic. Coupa has to-date outperformed the S&P 500 with ease, rising approximately 106.5%. In comparison, the S&P 500 has risen by only about 7.3% as of October 23. The company landed with a ranking of seven on the WhaleWisdom HeatMap, up from 31.

The global technology platform for business spend management designs and develops software solutions. Coupa provides businesses with the opportunity to conduct all their spending activities in one place through Coupa’s could-based suite of business spend management (BSM) applications. The company has shown flexibility in meeting customers’ needs. Its cloud-based suite of applications has served useful to companies transitioning to remote work during the pandemic.

Mixed Results from Hedge Funds and Institutions

Institutions have been buying, with aggregate 13F shares held increasing by approximately 2.4% to about 71.7 million from about 70 million. Looking at second-quarter activity by the top hedge funds, circumstances were slightly different. The aggregate 13F shares held decreased to approximately 21 million from about 25.3 million, a slide of roughly 17.1%. Of the hedge funds, 26 created new positions, 29 added to existing holdings, 33 exited, and 41 reduced their stake.

(WhaleWisdom)

Revenue Rises

Analysts estimate that earnings will rise to $1.07 per share in 2023, up from just $0.45 for 2021. Earnings will see an initial decline of approximately 14.2% in 2021. Still, in the long-term, upward momentum will continue bringing 79.1% year-over-year growth by January 2023. Revenue is predicted to reach approximately $1 billion in 2024, nearly double the $498.6 million estimate for 2021.

Analysts Are Optimistic Despite Valuation Headwinds

Oppenheimer & Co., Inc. raised its price target on Coupa to $285 from $265, citing Coupa’s success at penetrating the spend management market. Oppenheimer’s analyst, Koji Ikeda, is optimistic about the stock long-term. RBC Capital Market’s analyst, Alex Zukin, gives Coupa an outperform rating, increasing the price target to $300 from $245 and citing pipeline improvements and growth potential. Deutsche Bank starts Coupa with a Buy rating and an encouraging $345 price target, acknowledging its leadership in a sizeable market and the potential for market share gains.

Coupa’s Growth Brings Confident Estimates Beyond 2020

As Coupa faced some challenges amidst the pandemic, it is understandable why some hedge funds have sold. However, the company gained some impressive upward traction over the summer months and continues to see growth. Coupa’s impressive growth and future multi-year estimates are encouraging for investors.

American Express Co. (AXP) has traveled a rocky path in 2020, with some growth spurts over the past six months. The stock has trailed the S&P 500, falling by about 15.7% compared to the S&P 500’s gain of about 7.8%. Despite American Express’s 2020 struggles, the leading provider of credit cards and card network services was added to the WhaleWisdom’s WhaleIndex on August 17, 2020.

American Express has been negatively impacted by the coronavirus pandemic and related economic slowdown and many other businesses. Pandemic related quarantines, business closures, travel restrictions, and an overall reduction in consumer spending means fewer fees collected from transaction processing, less American Express gift cards purchased, and a higher risk of loan defaults. Through this time, American Express has tried to support its cardholders, recently offering temporary relief that included waiving interest and late payment fees. The Federal stimulus plan has helped the company rebound to an extent, and continued easing of restrictions on business operations and travel offer the opportunity for a comeback.

Hedge Funds and Institutions Are Selling

American Express has lost some hedge fund fans. Looking at second-quarter activity by hedge funds, the aggregate 13F shares held decreased to about 148.2 million from 152.9 million, an overall decrease of approximately 3.1%. Of the hedge funds, 41 created new positions, 104 added to existing holdings, 37 exited, and 100 reduced their stakes. Similarly, institutions also decreased their aggregate holdings by about 0.3%, to approximately 681.6 million from 683.7 million.

(WhaleWisdom)

Mixed Multi-Year Estimates

American Express has a projected 16.6% decline in revenue for the end of 2020, with an estimated revenue growth of approximately 11.1% for the fiscal year 2021, for $40.4 billion in revenue. Year over year growth predictions continues through to 2022 with year over year growth of about 11% bringing revenue to $44.6 billion. There is similar news for share value, expecting that earnings will initially decline to approximately $3.46 by December 2020, later to rise to $6.76 by 2021 and ultimately to $8.83 by 2022.

Analysts Share Concerns over Timing of Recovery

Bank of America Securities, LLC has turned bearish on American Express due to travel recovery’s slow pace. Bank of America’s analyst, Mihir Bhatia, downgraded the stock to Underperform from Neutral due to concerns over the decreased airline and lodging spending. The analyst estimates that it could take until 2024 for travel spending to rebound to pre-pandemic levels. Similar concerns are shared by JP Morgan Securities, Inc., which notes an unprecedented disconnect between unemployment and credit during the pandemic. Predicting that while some credit losses may be averted for companies like American Express, while others may only be delayed.

Long-Term Optimism

Despite a rocky 2020, the story’s not over for American Express, and investors may see a happier chapter to come. While the exact timing for an economic recovery is uncertain, analysts believe it is likely for things to improve for American Express in just a few years.

Moody’s Corp. (MCO) has seen positive returns over the past six months and has steadily been outperforming the S&P 500, rising by approximately 23.1% compared to the S&P 500’s gain of about 6.7%. Despite the growth, the financial services company recently slid on the HeatMap Index, landing on a ranking of 37, down from 29.

Moody’s is an American credit rating agency, a holding company for Moody’s Investor Service (MIS), and Moody’s Analytics (MA). The company is a financial software provider and services provider, providing economic-related research data and analytics tools. Moody’s has long been a leader in the credit rating market. Still, after a stellar performance in 2019, 2020 has proven more challenging. There’s no doubt that the coronavirus pandemic has impacted Moody’s business, as credit rating agencies are continually evaluating the pandemic’s impact on the credits they rate, trying to estimate economic implications, including nationwide business closures and high unemployment levels.

(WhaleWisdom)

Hedge Funds and Institutions Take a Step Back

Looking at second-quarter activity by the top hedge funds and institutions, it seems that Moody’s has slipped out of favor. Hedge Funds appear to be applying similar caution to what Moody’s applied to the credits it rates. Of hedge funds, 36 created new positions, 62 added to an existing holding, 11 exited, and 64 reduced their stakes. Overall, hedge funds decreased aggregate holdings by about 4.5% to approximately 42.4 million from 44.4 million shares. Similarly, institutions were also selling, reducing their aggregate holdings by about 0.4% to approximately 168.7 million from 169.4 million shares.

(WhaleWisdom)

Projected Earnings Increase Despite Hedge Funds Selling

Analysts anticipate that earnings will grow slowly over the next few years, increasing to $9.36 per share in 2020 and continuing an upward climb to an estimated $13.00 per share in 2024. Projections include earnings growth of an impressive 12.9% for December 2020. Revenue will see multiple years of growth, spanning from about 5.1 billion to 6.3 billion between 2020 and 2024.

Optimistic Long-Term Outlook

The coronavirus pandemic’s continued uncertainty, including pandemic influenced economic policies, creates challenges for Moody’s MIS and MA holdings. The pandemic duration is also a significant factor for the impact on credit conditions for debt issuers. However, Moody’s remains a leader in the credit rating market. The encouraging projections for earnings and revenue over the next few years is something to take note of, as is the need for patience from investors.

ServiceNow, Inc.’s (NOW) stock has climbed over the past five months, significantly outperforming the S&P500, rising by approximately 74.7% compared to the S&P’s gain of about 4.6%. However, hedge funds and institutions were actively selling the stock in the second quarter. It led to the shares slipping on the WhaleWisdom Heatmap, with a change in ranking to 33 from 23.

ServiceNow is an American software company that designs and produces computer software, offers cloud services and an information technology management platform. ServiceNow’s cloud computing platform helps companies manage digital workflows, which has become especially helpful during the coronavirus pandemic, as many businesses have responded to the pandemic by a shift to remote work. Also, ServiceNow has positioned its workflow applications and resources to assist businesses with their crisis response. While ServiceNow saw a brief dip in performance in March and April related to the pandemic, the equity has rebounded well in recent months.

Sellers Outnumber Buyers

During the second quarter, the total number of 13F shares held by institutions decreased by 1.5% to 173.3 million shares. The number of institutions selling the stock far outpaced the ones buying it. During the quarter, 188 institutions created new positions while 455 were adding to them, 68 liquated their holdings, and 297 reduced them. Hedge Funds showed a similar pattern of activity as aggregate 13F shared held decreased to approximately 33.3 million from 34.1 million, a decrease of approximately 2.4%. Of the hedge funds, 42 created new positions, 93 added, 26 exited, and 80 reduced their holdings.

(WhaleWisdom Heatmap)

Positive Multi-year Estimates

Analysts expect to see earnings increase over four consecutive years. Initially, ServiceNow is predicted to see year-over-year growth of 33.4% in 2020 to $4.43 per share. Growth is forecast to rise to $10.62 in 2023. Additionally, revenue is estimated to rise to approximately $8.6 billion in December 2023, up from about $4.4 billion for 2020.

(WhaleWisdom)

Analysts Raise Price Targets

Analysts appear enthusiastic about ServiceNow’s potential and are raising price targets. Stifel Financial Corp.’s analyst, Tom Roderick, recently raised ServiceNow’s price target to $500 from $460, keeping a Buy rating on shares. Roderick notes that ServiceNow has taken a leadership role in strategic decisions surrounding workflows and broader information technology management. Wells Fargo Securities also raised ServiceNow’s price target, with analyst Phillip Winslow increasing it to $565 from $525 and maintaining an Overweight rating on shares. JMP Securities’ analyst, Patrick Walravens, raised the company’s price target to $534 from $460 with an Outperform rating, citing ServiceNow having its best quarter ever.

Favorable Outlook

ServiceNow is well-positioned to benefit from workplace shifts to telecommuting and cloud services, which increased due to the pandemic and are likely to continue in the future. The impressive stock gains, coupled with the expectation for healthy growth, and analysts’ price targets, could help gain the attention of investors over time and help push prices even higher.