Coinbase vs PayPal
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The short version
- PayPal is the larger business, with $33.2B of revenue in fiscal 2025 against $7.2B for Coinbase, about 4.6 times as much.
- Coinbase grew revenue faster (9.4%, against 4.3%).
- Coinbase kept more of each dollar of sales as operating profit (20.0% operating margin, against 18.3%).
- Coinbase turned more of its sales into free cash flow (31.9% FCF margin, against 16.8%).
- PayPal earned a higher return on the capital invested in it (25.7%, against 14.5%).
| Latest fiscal year | COIN · FY25 | PYPL · FY25 |
|---|---|---|
| Size | ||
| Market cap | $43.3B | $52.5B |
| Revenue | $7.2B | $33.2B |
| Free cash flow | $2.3B | $5.6B |
| Net income | $1.3B | $5.2B |
| Growth | ||
| Revenue growth | 9.4% | 4.3% |
| 5-year growth | 41.2% | 9.1% |
| Share count change | 5.1% | −6.8% |
| Profitability | ||
| Gross margin | — | — |
| Operating margin | 20.0% | 18.3% |
| Net margin | 17.6% | 15.8% |
| FCF margin | 31.9% | 16.8% |
| Return on capital | 14.5% | 25.7% |
| Return on equity | 10.1% | 25.7% |
| Balance sheet | ||
| Net debt | −$3.9B | −$418M |
| Net debt / EBITDA | −2.4x | −0.1x |
| Dividends and buybacks | $790M | $6.2B |
| Valuation & quality | ||
| P/E | — | 10.7x |
| Piotroski F-score | 4 | 7 |
Revenue
FY16
COIN —
PYPL $10.8B
FY17
COIN —
PYPL $13.1B
FY18
COIN —
PYPL $15.5B
FY19
COIN $534M
PYPL $17.8B
FY20
COIN $1.3B
PYPL $21.5B
FY21
COIN $7.8B
PYPL $25.4B
FY22
COIN $3.2B
PYPL $27.5B
FY23
COIN $3.1B
PYPL $29.8B
FY24
COIN $6.6B
PYPL $31.8B
FY25
COIN $7.2B
PYPL $33.2B
COIN
PYPL
Operating margin
FY16
COIN —
PYPL 14.6%
FY17
COIN —
PYPL 16.2%
FY18
COIN —
PYPL 14.2%
FY19
COIN −8.6%
PYPL 15.3%
FY20
COIN 32.0%
PYPL 15.3%
FY21
COIN 39.2%
PYPL 16.8%
FY22
COIN −84.9%
PYPL 13.9%
FY23
COIN −5.2%
PYPL 16.9%
FY24
COIN 35.2%
PYPL 16.8%
FY25
COIN 20.0%
PYPL 18.3%
COIN
PYPL
Free cash flow
FY16
COIN —
PYPL $2.5B
FY17
COIN —
PYPL $1.9B
FY18
COIN —
PYPL $4.7B
FY19
COIN −$114M
PYPL $3.4B
FY20
COIN $284M
PYPL $5.4B
FY21
COIN $4.0B
PYPL $4.9B
FY22
COIN −$1.6B
PYPL $5.1B
FY23
COIN $673M
PYPL $4.2B
FY24
COIN $3.0B
PYPL $6.8B
FY25
COIN $2.3B
PYPL $5.6B
COIN
PYPL
Return on capital
FY16
COIN —
PYPL —
FY17
COIN —
PYPL —
FY18
COIN —
PYPL —
FY19
COIN —
PYPL 23.0%
FY20
COIN —
PYPL 20.2%
FY21
COIN —
PYPL 23.6%
FY22
COIN —
PYPL 13.8%
FY23
COIN —
PYPL 21.6%
FY24
COIN 43.3%
PYPL 23.0%
FY25
COIN 14.5%
PYPL 25.7%
COIN
PYPL
Each company's latest fiscal year; fiscal years end in different months. The best value in each row is highlighted where higher (or lower) is clearly better. Not investment advice.