Paytm shares rise 7% as Q3 loss narrows to Rs 392 crore

Shares of Paytm (listed as One97 Communications) gained over 7 per cent on Monday after the payment gateway services provider turned positive at the operating level three quarters ahead of its guidance. It reported EBITDA before ESOP of Rs 31 crore in Q3FY23.

The firm also narrowed its Q3 loss to Rs 392 crore for the quarter ended December from Rs 779 crore a year ago.

Check share price: Paytm

Paytm stock rose 7.44 per cent to Rs 563.95 today against the previous close of Rs 524.90 on BSE.  The stock opened with a gain of 4.78% at Rs 550 today.

Shares of Paytm were trading higher than the 5-day, 20-day and 50-day moving averages but lower than 100-day and 200-day moving averages.

However, the stock has lost 42.71 per cent in a year but risen 2.88 per cent in 2023.

Market cap of Paytm climbed to Rs 35,810 crore on BSE. Total 0.88 lakh shares of the firm changed hands amounting to a turnover of Rs 5.01 crore.

The stock hit a 52-week high of Rs 984.90 on February 7, 2022 and a 52-week low of Rs 439.60 on November 24, 2022. The large cap stock is still down by Rs 1391 or 71.15 per cent compared to its IPO listing price of Rs 1,955 on November 18, 2021.

Revenue of the SoftBank-backed firm rose 42% to Rs 2,062 crore in Q3FY23 as against Rs 1,456 crore in Q3FY22.

BofA Securities has a neutral stance on the Paytm stock.

"Paytm reported adjusted EBITDA breakeven 3 quarters ahead of mgmt’s initial guide of Sep’23   target & street expectations. This was mainly on the  back of rising mix of high margin lending revenue, improving merchant subscription, reducing payment processing & promotional charges," said BofA Securities.

After Q3 earnings, Goldman Sachs said, "On the back of 3QFY23 results, we lower our FY23E-25E revenue estimates by up to 3%, due to continued mix shift towards UPI and weaker than expected cloud revenues. However, our EBITDA estimates see a sharp increase on better than 5 February 2023  expected cost control. Our revised 12-month DCF/SOTP based target price is Rs 1,150 (was Rs 1,120; WACC and terminal growth assumptions of 14% and 5% unchanged). We reiterate our Buy rating (on Conviction List) and believe Paytm’s current share price continues to offer a compelling entry point into India’s largest and one of the most profitable fintech platforms."

"Paytm, a business built from scratch with conviction on Digital India. From our first app release to becoming a verb in India to operating EBITDA profitability milestone - all in 10 years!" said CEO Vijay Shekhar Sharma on Twitter.

The company's contribution profit rose to 51% of revenue in Q3FY23 from 31% in Q3FY22 and 44% in Q2FY23, driven by improvement in payments profitability, and growth of high margin businesses, such as loan distribution, it said.

The company's net payments margin, or payments revenue excluding processing costs, more than doubled to Rs 459 crore from a year earlier. Operating profit margin improved to 1.5% from negative 27% from a year earlier.

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