NU vs. PYPL: Nu Holdings vs. PayPal Stock Comparison

November 11, 2026

How do Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL) stack up? This page sets them side by side across company profile, performance and risk, profitability, growth, financial strength, dividends, and valuation, with selected fundamentals also measured against each stock's industry-group peers.

Company Profile

Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL) share the Financials sector but sit in different industry groups — NU in Banks and PYPL in Financial Services.

Company profile comparison for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Profile Item	NU	PYPL
Name	Nu Holdings Ltd. Class A Ordinary Shares	PayPal Holdings, Inc.
Country/Region	Brazil	United States
GICS Sector	Financials	Financials
GICS Industry Group	Banks	Financial Services
GICS Industry	Banks	Financial Services
GICS Sub-Industry	Diversified Banks	Transaction & Payment Processing Services
Market Capitalization	58.11 billion USD	49.21 billion USD
Currency	USD	USD
Exchange	NYSE	Nasdaq
Listing Date	December 9, 2021	July 6, 2015
Security Type	Common Stock	Common Stock

Price Performance

Cumulative Growth

PYPL

GSPC

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Growth of a $10,000 investment over the past five years. Adjusted for dividends and splits.

Trailing Returns

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Trailing total returns for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL). Returns over one year are annualized.

Calendar-Year Returns

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Calendar-year total returns for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL). Each bar is that year's total return, measured year-end to year-end.

Performance Metrics

Price performance metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Total Return (1Y)	-22.46%	-7.44%
Total Return (3Y, Annualized)	14.21%	4.14%
Total Return (5Y, Annualized)	--	-21.48%

Risk Profile

Drawdown History

PYPL

GSPC

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL), with S&P 500 (GSPC) for reference: Drawdown from the running peak over the past five years. Each line shows the decline from its prior peak; 0% marks a new high.

Return Distribution

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Distribution of monthly total returns for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL). Each bar is the share of months whose return fell in that 5% bucket.

Risk Metrics

Risk profile metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Volatility (1Y, Annualized)	46.14%	42.40%
Beta (5Y)	0.94	1.28
Max Drawdown (5Y)	-72.07%	-81.84%
Avg. Volume (3M)	80.53M	11.78M

Risk-Adjusted Performance

Risk-Return Positioning

NU and PYPL are plotted by 1-year volatility (risk) and 1-year return. Each dashed Capital Allocation Line uses that stock's own industry median.

Risk-Adjusted Metrics

Risk-adjusted metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Sharpe Ratio (1Y)	-0.58	-0.28
Sortino Ratio (1Y)	-0.78	-0.37

Profitability

ROE (TTM)

Both companies show strong equity returns, but Nu Holdings (NU) at 31.63% is the standout with ROE above its industry range; PayPal (PYPL) at 23.83% also sits in the top quartile.

NU

Banks industry group

31.63%

NU: 31.63%
Max: 19.84%
Q3: 13.67%
Median: 11.49%
Q1: 9.50%
Min: 3.64%

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

23.83%

Max: 44.78%
PYPL: 23.83%
Q3: 21.85%
Median: 12.91%
Q1: 4.48%
Min: -18.71%

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their ROE against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

Net Margin (TTM)

Nu Holdings (NU) at 42.73% retains a top-quartile share of revenue as profit, ahead of PayPal (PYPL) at 13.78%, which keeps about the industry-typical share.

NU

Banks industry group

42.73%

Max: 47.19%
NU: 42.73%
Q3: 35.25%
Median: 31.21%
Q1: 27.11%
Min: 14.93%

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

13.78%

Max: 62.84%
Q3: 28.05%
Median: 15.36%
PYPL: 13.78%
Q1: 4.82%
Min: -28.52%

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their net margin against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

Operating Margin (TTM)

PayPal (PYPL) reports operating margin of 18.41%; Nu Holdings (NU) doesn’t report a comparable line — in Banks, funding costs sit inside the core business rather than below an operating line, so profitability is better judged on net margin or ROE.

NU

Banks industry group

NU: --
Max: --
Q3: --
Median: --
Q1: --
Min: --

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

18.41%

Max: 107.33%
Q3: 55.90%
Median: 30.09%
PYPL: 18.41%
Q1: 14.60%
Min: -44.34%

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): NU’s operating margin is not assessed under the Banks industry convention, so the chart shows available visual context for PYPL only.

Profitability Metrics

Profitability metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
ROE (TTM)	31.63%	23.83%
ROA (TTM)	4.96%	4.70%
Net Margin (TTM)	42.73%	13.78%
Operating Margin (TTM)	--	18.41%
Gross Margin (TTM)	--	--

Growth

Revenue Growth

Nu Holdings (NU) at 28.51% sits in the top revenue growth quartile, while PayPal (PYPL) at 4.32% is closer to the peer norm — faster top-line expansion for NU.

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their Revenue Growth across different time periods.

EPS Growth

Nu Holdings (NU) at 44.92% sits in the top EPS growth quartile, while PayPal (PYPL) at 35.59% is closer to the peer norm — faster per-share earnings growth for NU.

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their EPS Growth across different time periods.

Growth Metrics

Growth metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Revenue Growth (YoY)	28.51%	4.32%
Revenue Growth (3Y CAGR)	52.93%	6.43%
EPS Growth (YoY)	44.92%	35.59%
EPS Growth (3Y CAGR)	--	37.30%

Financial Strength

Current Ratio (MRQ)

current ratio doesn’t apply on either side: Nu Holdings (NU) in Banks and PayPal (PYPL) in Financial Services both report balance sheets without a current/non-current split, so their short-term liquidity is better judged through regulatory and funding measures.

Debt / Equity (MRQ)

debt-to-equity ratio is set aside for both: Nu Holdings (NU) in Banks and PayPal (PYPL) in Financial Services run businesses where balance-sheet leverage is part of the model, so capital-adequacy and funding measures are the better gauges of balance-sheet risk.

Financial Strength Metrics

Financial strength metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Current Ratio (MRQ)	--	--
Debt / Equity (MRQ)	--	--
Net Debt / EBITDA	--	--

Dividends

Dividend Yield (TTM)

Nu Holdings (NU) pays no dividend (yield 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile PayPal (PYPL) reports a yield of 0.95%, ranking against industry peers normally.

NU

Banks industry group

0.00%

Max: 5.79%
Q3: 3.18%
Median: 2.39%
Q1: 1.20%
NU: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

0.95%

Max: 9.77%
Q3: 3.92%
Median: 1.09%
PYPL: 0.95%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their dividend yield against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)

Nu Holdings (NU) pays no dividend (payout 0.00%) — it may be reinvesting, using buybacks, or simply not returning cash through dividends. Meanwhile PayPal (PYPL) reports a payout of 10.69%, ranking against industry peers normally.

NU

Banks industry group

0.00%

Max: 70.75%
Q3: 41.28%
Median: 29.26%
Q1: 18.98%
NU: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

10.69%

Max: 241.07%
Q3: 97.36%
Median: 25.77%
PYPL: 10.69%
Q1: 0.00%
Min: 0.00%

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their payout ratio against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

Dividend Metrics

Dividend metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
Dividend Yield (TTM)	0.00%	0.95%
Dividend Payout Ratio (TTM)	0.00%	10.69%

Valuation

P/E Ratio (TTM)

PayPal (PYPL) at 11.31 is near its industry’s usual P/E ratio, while Nu Holdings (NU) at 16.48 sits in the richer quartile — NU needs stronger growth or earnings quality to justify the premium.

NU

Banks industry group

16.48

Max: 18.16
NU: 16.48
Q3: 13.75
Median: 11.81
Q1: 10.64
Min: 6.49

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

11.31

Max: 45.85
Q3: 24.64
Median: 15.37
PYPL: 11.31
Q1: 9.68
Min: 0.16

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their P/E ratio against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

P/S Ratio (TTM)

PayPal (PYPL) shows P/S ratio of 1.43; for Nu Holdings (NU) the multiple is skipped — in Banks, income is dominated by interest spread rather than a conventional revenue line, so pricing per dollar of sales loses meaning and book- or earnings-based multiples carry the comparison.

NU

Banks industry group

NU: --
Max: --
Q3: --
Median: --
Q1: --
Min: --

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

1.43

Max: 9.23
Q3: 4.57
Median: 2.72
PYPL: 1.43
Q1: 1.28
Min: -0.55

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): NU’s P/S ratio is not assessed under the Banks industry convention, so the chart shows available visual context for PYPL only.

P/B Ratio (MRQ)

PayPal (PYPL) at 2.55 sits near its industry’s typical P/B ratio, while Nu Holdings (NU) at 4.39 prices above its benchmark range — NU looks rich relative to book.

NU

Banks industry group

4.39

NU: 4.39
Max: 2.28
Q3: 1.58
Median: 1.32
Q1: 1.10
Min: 0.59

PYPL

Financial Services industry group

2.55

Max: 7.79
Q3: 3.63
PYPL: 2.55
Median: 1.57
Q1: 0.81
Min: -0.39

Nu Holdings (NU) vs. PayPal (PYPL): A comparison of their P/B ratio against their respective Banks and Financial Services industry group benchmarks.

Valuation Metrics

Valuation metrics for Nu Holdings (NU) and PayPal (PYPL)
Metric	NU	PYPL
P/E Ratio (TTM)	16.48	11.31
P/S Ratio (TTM)	--	1.43
P/B Ratio (MRQ)	4.39	2.55
Free Cash Flow Yield (TTM)	--	--