How Does PayPal Holdings, Inc. Sit in Its SEC Industry Classification?
PayPal Holdings, Inc. files under SEC standard industrial classification 7389, Services-Business Services, NEC. Among the 62 companies Swoopr covers under SIC 7389, its latest reported revenue of $33.2 billion ranks 5th. The comparison uses each company's own latest fiscal year, which can differ by up to a year across the group.
| Measure | PayPal Holdings, Inc. (FY2025) | Peer reference |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $33.2 billion | 5th of 62 |
| Operating margin | 18.3% | 18.4% (median of 10 peers with a quarter to four times its revenue) |
| Revenue growth | +4.3% | +12.9% (median of 10 peers with a quarter to four times its revenue) |
Companies of similar size in the same classification: Mastercard Inc ($32.8 billion), MERCADOLIBRE INC ($28.9 billion), VISA INC. ($40.0 billion), FISERV INC ($21.2 billion), Uber Technologies, Inc ($52.0 billion).
A classification code groups companies by how they describe their main business to the SEC, so two companies with the same code can still differ in customers, geography and cost structure. Treat the comparison as a starting point for the questions below.
Where value can be captured
These companies occupy market infrastructure between investors, merchants, issuers, financial institutions, data users, and capital providers. Network effects, liquidity, switching costs, regulatory licenses, and trusted data can be important sources of advantage.
For PayPal, name suppliers, channels, customers and infrastructure dependencies only when a reliable source establishes the relationship. The goal is to show where the company sits, what it depends on, and where bargaining power resides.
Industry drivers
- Transaction Or Payment Volume: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Assets Under Management: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Market Activity: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Client Assets: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Take Rate: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Subscription Or Data Revenue: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Net Interest Or Spread Income: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
- Customer Growth: connect this driver to a disclosed KPI and to the financial statement line it influences.
Macro connections
- Interest Rates: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
- Equity And Credit Markets: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
- Volatility: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
- Consumer Spending: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
- Capital Formation: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
- Regulatory Policy: document the transmission mechanism rather than assuming correlation.
Peer map
A starting peer group from the current S&P 500 classification is Block, Inc., Corpay, Fidelity National Information Services, Fiserv, Global Payments, Jack Henry & Associates. Some may be adjacent rather than direct competitors. The latest PayPal filing and credible industry sources should refine the map.
Questions for the supply-chain map
- Which inputs are scarce, concentrated, regulated, or difficult to substitute?
- Which layer has the highest switching costs?
- Where can capacity expand quickly, and where does it take years?
- Which participants bear inventory, credit, commodity, or utilization risk?
- Is PayPal's advantage located in intellectual property, physical assets, licenses, distribution, brand, data, or customer integration?
- Which dependency could become a bottleneck under stress?
References
The evergreen analysis above is anchored to verified index metadata and a filing-first research workflow. Time-sensitive financial figures are refreshed from the latest primary filings.
- S&P Dow Jones Indices: S&P 500
- SEC EDGAR company filings for PayPal
- SEC submissions JSON for CIK 1633917
Source-review rule: Check any statement about current revenue, margins, management, products, segment mix, guidance, market share or capital allocation against the latest 10-K, 10-Q, 8-K, proxy statement, earnings release or official investor-relations material before relying on it.