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Paysafe’s financial forecasts were in line with expectations.
Dreamstime
Paysafe stock jumped Wednesday after the online payments company reported sales that were higher than Wall Street had penciled in and beat a previous forecast by the management.
Paysafe (ticker: PSFE) reported revenue of $371.7 million in the fourth quarter, above analysts’ consensus forecast of $357 million. When the company reported its third-quarter earnings in November, management told investors to expect revenue of up to $365 million.
Shares of
Paysafe
climbed 9% to $3.15 in premarket trading on Wednesday.
The company said total payment volume in the quarter increased 20% to $31.5 billion.
The U.K. company operates in three segments: integrated processing, digital wallets, and eCash solutions. The eCash solutions have allowed Americans without bank accounts to pay for online games using cash paid at retail stores like 7-Eleven and Dollar General.
Paysafe recently expanded into New York’s regulated sports-betting market. It is also working with Hard Rock Online Casino New Jersey to provide online credit- and debit-card payment processing for its mobile app.
In a statement, Paysafe said, “turnaround of our digital wallet business is well under way with the actions we’ve taken driving positive results, repositioning the business for success, and enabling us to absorb market risks in Europe” associated with gambling regulations. Revenue in the digital wallet operation fell sharply in the third quarter as a result of increased regulation.
Cowen analyst George Mihalos said Paysafe’s unexpectedly strong fourth-quarter result was led by stronger performance in the digital businesses and that he expects the company’s outlook to be viewed positively by Wall Street. Mihalos has a Market Perform rating on the company and a target of $7 for the price.
For 2022, the company reiterated an earlier forecast for revenue, saying it is expected to be in the range of $1.53 billion to $1.58 billion. That call is in line with the $1.54 billion analysts expect.
In the current first quarter, which ends in March, Paysafe expects to deliver revenue of $355 million to $365 million, again in line with analysts’ consensus call of $363 million. But adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization is expected to be $90 million to $100 million, lower than the consensus call of $103.6 million
Write to Karishma Vanjani at karishma.vanjani@dowjones.com
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