Research firm Piper Jaffray warned that PayPal (PYPL) continues to face increased competition, which may weigh on its results. Meanwhile, the company announced a change in its Chief Technology Officer.
Piper sticks with sell rating: Other leading digital payment systems are becoming more competitive with PayPal’s offering, according to well-known Piper Jaffray analyst Gene Munster. More financial and technology competitors – including Visa (V), MasrterCard (MA), Google (GOOG,GOOGL), Samsung and Apple (AAPL) – are offering “similar functionality” to PayPal, Munster believes. Moreover, Apple and and Samsung will begin accepting mobile Web payments in 2016, intruding on PayPal’s core competency, and Facebook (FB) is looking to partner with multiple players in the space, Munster noted. The credit card networks are poised to launch online checkout systems, further increasing PayPal’s competition, Munster warned. In the face of all this competition, PayPal’s appeal to its customers is questionable, according to the analyst, who kept a $33 price target and Underweight rating on the shares.
What’s notable: PayPal announced that its CTO, James Barrese, would resign “to take time off.” Barrese will be replaced, effective April 1, by Sri Shivananda, who led eBay’s (EBAY) Global Platform and Infrastructure team, PayPal reported. Shivananda’s team has worked closely with PayPal, the company noted.
Price action: In early trading, PayPal slipped about 1% to $33.30.
