PayPal price target raised to $71 from $63 at UBS

UBS raised the firm’s price target on PayPal to $71 from $63 and keeps a Neutral rating on the shares. PayPal’s branded checkout accelerated 100 basis points vs. Q4 levels on an ex-Leap Year basis, and there were encouraging comments around Fastlane from a performance perspective, alongside plans for a broader roll-out beginning in the second half of the year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Alongside the encouraging results and the prospects for Fastlane ahead, there remains a number of more transient gross profit pressures facing the company over the next 12-24 months, including still slow growth in PayPal branded checkout gross profit, ongoing headwinds from the migration of legacy businesses, weaker trends in Invoices, and multiple other value added services-related headwinds, the firm says.