PayPal Holdings (BSP:PYPL34) Beneish M-Score: -2.48 (As of Jun. 25, 2026)


BSP:PYPL34 PayPal Holdings Inc BSP:PYPL34
72 GF Score
Price R$10.84
GF Value R$21.16
Valuation Significantly Undervalued
! 4 Warning Signs
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What is PayPal Holdings Beneish M-Score?

PayPal Holdings BSP:PYPL34 -0.37% 72 Beneish M-Score is -2.48 as of Jun. 25, 2026. GuruFocus rates BSP:PYPL34 with a GF Score™ of 72/100 and a GF Value™ of R$21.16 (Significantly Undervalued). The stock has 4 warning signs investors should review. Among 483 Credit Services companies, PayPal Holdings ranks better than 66.87% on this metric.

The zones of discrimination for M-Score is as such:

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.
An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

Good Sign:

Beneish M-Score -2.48 no higher than -1.78, which implies that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

The historical rank and industry rank for PayPal Holdings's Beneish M-Score or its related term are showing as below:

BSP:PYPL34' s Beneish M-Score Range Over the Past 10 Years
Min: -2.85   Med: -2.5   Max: -2.2
Current: -2.48

During the past 13 years, the highest Beneish M-Score of PayPal Holdings was -2.20. The lowest was -2.85. And the median was -2.50.

PayPal Holdings Beneish M-Score Historical Data

* Premium members only.

The historical data trend for PayPal Holdings's Beneish M-Score can be seen below:

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

PayPal Holdings Beneish M-Score Chart

PayPal Holdings Annual Data
Trend Dec16 Dec17 Dec18 Dec19 Dec20 Dec21 Dec22 Dec23 Dec24 Dec25
Beneish M-Score
Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.40 -2.59 -2.47 -2.60 -2.50

PayPal Holdings Quarterly Data
Jun21 Sep21 Dec21 Mar22 Jun22 Sep22 Dec22 Mar23 Jun23 Sep23 Dec23 Mar24 Jun24 Sep24 Dec24 Mar25 Jun25 Sep25 Dec25 Mar26
Beneish M-Score Get a 7-Day Free Trial Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only Premium Member Only -2.51 -2.50 -2.54 -2.50 -2.48

BSP:PYPL34 vs AFRM, SYF, SOFI: Beneish M-Score Comparison

For the Credit Services subindustry, PayPal Holdings's Beneish M-Score, along with its competitors' market caps and Beneish M-Score data, can be viewed below:

* Competitive companies are chosen from companies within the same industry, with headquarter located in same country, with closest market capitalization; x-axis shows the market cap, and y-axis shows the term value; the bigger the dot, the larger the market cap. Note that "N/A" values will not show up in the chart.

PayPal Holdings Beneish M-Score vs Credit Services Industry

For the Credit Services industry and Financial Services sector, PayPal Holdings's Beneish M-Score distribution charts can be found below:

* The bar in red indicates where PayPal Holdings's Beneish M-Score falls into.


BSP:PYPL34
72GF Score
PayPal Holdings Inc BSP:PYPL34
Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Score™, valuation, warning signs, and more.
View Full Analysis

PayPal Holdings Beneish M-Score Calculation

The M-score was created by Professor Messod Beneish. Instead of measuring the bankruptcy risk (Altman Z-Score) or business trend (Piotroski F-Score), M-score can be used to detect the risk of earnings manipulation. This is the original research paper on M-score.

The M-Score Variables:

The M-score of PayPal Holdings for today is based on a combination of the following eight different indices:

M=-4.84+0.92 * DSRI+0.528 * GMI+0.404 * AQI+0.892 * SGI+0.115 * DEPI
=-4.84+0.92 * 0.9327+0.528 * 1.0143+0.404 * 0.9941+0.892 * 1.0016+0.115 * 1.0764
-0.172 * SGAI+4.679 * TATA-0.327 * LVGI
-0.172 * 0.9496+4.679 * -0.013054-0.327 * 0.9918
=-2.58

* For Operating Data section: All numbers are indicated by the unit behind each term and all currency related amount are in USD.
* For other sections: All numbers are in millions except for per share data, ratio, and percentage. All currency related amount are indicated in the company's associated stock exchange currency.

This Year (Mar26) TTM:Last Year (Mar25) TTM:
Total Receivables was R$255,591 Mil.
Revenue was 43682.849 + 47333.653 + 45140.371 + 45963.59 = R$182,120 Mil.
Gross Profit was 19924.776 + 22008.294 + 20760.173 + 21318.055 = R$84,011 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R$313,750 Mil.
Total Assets was R$421,223 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R$8,932 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R$5,161 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R$23,120 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R$249,122 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R$49,205 Mil.
Net Income was 5820.545 + 7839.841 + 6693.024 + 6993.254 = R$27,347 Mil.
Non Operating Income was -862.884 + 158.215 + -332.506 + -621.13 = R$-1,658 Mil.
Cash Flow from Operations was 5930.366 + 13006.389 + 10586.562 + 4980.128 = R$34,503 Mil.
 Total Receivables was R$273,579 Mil.
Revenue was 44861.357 + 51040.966 + 43455.117 + 42469.399 = R$181,827 Mil.
Gross Profit was 21397.1 + 24007.435 + 20235.121 + 19433.049 = R$85,073 Mil.
Total Current Assets was R$349,004 Mil.
Total Assets was R$467,984 Mil.
Property, Plant and Equipment(Net PPE) was R$8,850 Mil.
Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization(DDA) was R$5,759 Mil.
Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) was R$24,309 Mil.
Total Current Liabilities was R$268,454 Mil.
Long-Term Debt & Capital Lease Obligation was R$65,740 Mil.

1. DSRI = Days Sales in Receivables Index

Measured as the ratio of Revenue in Total Receivables in year t to year t-1.

A large increase in DSR could be indicative of revenue inflation.

DSRI=(Receivables_t / Revenue_t) / (Receivables_t-1 / Revenue_t-1)
=(255591.47 / 182120.463) / (273578.847 / 181826.839)
=1.40342 / 1.504612
=0.9327

2. GMI = Gross Margin Index

Measured as the ratio of gross margin in year t-1 to gross margin in year t.

Gross margin has deteriorated when this index is above 1. A firm with poorer prospects is more likely to manipulate earnings.

GMI=GrossMargin_t-1 / GrossMargin_t
=(GrossProfit_t-1 / Revenue_t-1) / (GrossProfit_t / Revenue_t)
=(85072.705 / 181826.839) / (84011.298 / 182120.463)
=0.467878 / 0.461295
=1.0143

3. AQI = Asset Quality Index

AQI is the ratio of asset quality in year t to year t-1.

Asset quality is measured as the ratio of non-current assets other than Property, Plant and Equipment to Total Assets.

AQI=(1 - (CurrentAssets_t + PPE_t) / TotalAssets_t) / (1 - (CurrentAssets_t-1 + PPE_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=(1 - (313749.852 + 8932.157) / 421223.362) / (1 - (349004.199 + 8850.2) / 467983.819)
=0.233941 / 0.235327
=0.9941

4. SGI = Sales Growth Index

Ratio of Revenue in year t to sales in year t-1.

Sales growth is not itself a measure of manipulation. However, growth companies are likely to find themselves under pressure to manipulate in order to keep up appearances.

SGI=Sales_t / Sales_t-1
=Revenue_t / Revenue_t-1
=182120.463 / 181826.839
=1.0016

5. DEPI = Depreciation Index

Measured as the ratio of the rate of Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization in year t-1 to the corresponding rate in year t.

DEPI greater than 1 indicates that assets are being depreciated at a slower rate. This suggests that the firm might be revising useful asset life assumptions upwards, or adopting a new method that is income friendly.

DEPI=(Depreciation_t-1 / (Depreciaton_t-1 + PPE_t-1)) / (Depreciation_t / (Depreciaton_t + PPE_t))
=(5758.566 / (5758.566 + 8850.2)) / (5160.66 / (5160.66 + 8932.157))
=0.394186 / 0.366191
=1.0764

Note: If the Depreciation, Depletion and Amortization data is not available, we assume that the depreciation rate is constant and set the Depreciation Index to 1.

6. SGAI = Sales, General and Administrative expenses Index

The ratio of Selling, General, & Admin. Expense(SGA) to Sales in year t relative to year t-1.

SGA expenses index > 1 means that the company is becoming less efficient in generate sales.

SGAI=(SGA_t / Sales_t) / (SGA_t-1 /Sales_t-1)
=(23120.473 / 182120.463) / (24309.096 / 181826.839)
=0.126952 / 0.133694
=0.9496

7. LVGI = Leverage Index

The ratio of total debt to Total Assets in year t relative to yeat t-1.

An LVGI > 1 indicates an increase in leverage

LVGI=((LTD_t + CurrentLiabilities_t) / TotalAssets_t) / ((LTD_t-1 + CurrentLiabilities_t-1) / TotalAssets_t-1)
=((49205.306 + 249122.455) / 421223.362) / ((65740.228 + 268454.138) / 467983.819)
=0.708241 / 0.714115
=0.9918

8. TATA = Total Accruals to Total Assets

Total accruals calculated as the change in working capital accounts other than cash less depreciation.

TATA=(IncomefromContinuingOperations_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(NetIncome_t - NonOperatingIncome_t - CashFlowsfromOperations_t) / TotalAssets_t
=(27346.664 - -1658.305 - 34503.445) / 421223.362
=-0.013054

An M-Score of equal or less than -1.78 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator. An M-Score of greater than -1.78 signals that the company is likely to be a manipulator.

PayPal Holdings has a M-score of -2.58 suggests that the company is unlikely to be a manipulator.

Frequently Asked Questions Learn more about Beneish M-Score →
What does a Beneish M-Score of -2.48 mean?
PayPal Holdings (BSP:PYPL34) has a Beneish M-Score of -2.48 as of Jun. 25, 2026. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on PayPal Holdings and its competitors. According to the industry distribution chart, PayPal Holdings ranks #160 out of 483 companies in the Credit Services industry, placing it in the top 33.1%.
Is PayPal Holdings' Beneish M-Score too high?
PayPal Holdings' current Beneish M-Score is -2.48. Based on the distribution chart, PayPal Holdings ranks #160 out of 483 companies in the Credit Services industry, which is above the industry midpoint. Overall, PayPal Holdings has a GF Score™ of 72/100 and is considered Significantly Undervalued, reflecting its overall financial health beyond just this single metric.
How does PayPal Holdings' Beneish M-Score compare to AFRM and SYF?
According to the Credit Services industry distribution chart, PayPal Holdings ranks #160 out of 483 companies for Beneish M-Score. This puts PayPal Holdings in the upper half of its industry. See the competitive comparison table and distribution chart on this page for a detailed peer-by-peer breakdown.
What is a good Beneish M-Score for a Credit Services company?
A good Beneish M-Score depends on the Credit Services industry context. However, Beneish M-Score should not be evaluated in isolation — investors should consider it alongside profitability, growth, and financial strength metrics. Use the industry distribution chart on this page to see where any company falls relative to its peers.
What does a high Beneish M-Score mean?
A high Beneish M-Score can signal that a stock is expensive relative to its fundamentals. The Beneish M-score measures the likelihood of earnings manipulation. View historical data on PayPal Holdings and its competitors. PayPal Holdings's current Beneish M-Score is -2.48. However, context matters — high-growth companies often justify higher valuations. Always evaluate alongside other metrics like GF Score™ and GF Value™.
Is PayPal Holdings stock overvalued right now?
Based on GuruFocus' analysis, PayPal Holdings (BSP:PYPL34) is currently considered Significantly Undervalued. The stock's GF Value™ is R$21.16, compared to a current price of R$10.84 — trading 48.8% below its estimated fair value. The current Beneish M-Score is -2.48. PayPal Holdings' overall GF Score™ is 72/100 with 4 warning signs to review. Investors should evaluate multiple metrics — including profitability, growth, and financial strength — before making a decision.
How is Beneish M-Score calculated?
Beneish M-Score is calculated from a company's financial statements. For PayPal Holdings (BSP:PYPL34), the current Beneish M-Score is -2.48 as of Jun. 25, 2026. GuruFocus calculates this using data sourced from SEC filings and annual reports. See the calculation section and 30-year financial data on this page for the full breakdown.

Is PayPal Holdings (BSP:PYPL34) Overvalued in 2026?

Based on GuruFocus' analysis, PayPal Holdings stock appears to be undervalued. The current stock price of R$10.84 is trading 48.8% below its estimated GF Value™ of R$21.16. GuruFocus considers PayPal Holdings to be Significantly Undervalued.

Key valuation signals for BSP:PYPL34:

  • Beneish M-Score: -2.48
  • GF Value™: R$21.16 vs. price of R$10.84 (48.8% below fair value)
  • GF Score™: 72/100 with 4 warning signs

No single metric tells the full story. See the BSP:PYPL34 stock analysis page for a complete view including 30-year financials, guru trades, and insider activity.

PayPal Holdings Business Description

Address 2211 North First Street, San Jose, CA, USA, 95131
PayPal was spun off from eBay in 2015 and provides electronic payment solutions to merchants and consumers, with a focus on online transactions. The company had 439 million active accounts at the end of 2025. The company also owns Venmo, a person-to-person payment platform.
72GF Score

Get the complete analysis for BSP:PYPL34

Beneish M-Score is just one metric. See GF Value™, 30-year financials, guru trades, warning signs, and more.

R$10.84
Price
R$21.16
GF Value