Just months into its turnaround, PayPal needs all the help it can get to show investors that things are progressing smoothly. Second-quarter earnings just delivered.

The latest numbers, posted ahead of Tuesday's opening bell, beat management's own guidance as well as Wall Street expectations. PayPal reported adjusted earnings of $1.38 a share for the quarter, topping analysts' calls for $1.28. Revenue came to $8.68 billion, ahead of the $8.47 billion consensus estimate.

The company highlighted improvement in several key metrics including transaction margin dollars, a measure of profitability. Second-quarter transaction margin dollars ticked 1% higher to $3.9 billion, or 3% when excluding interest on customer balances.

Total payment volume grew 9% on a currency-neutral basis to $486.4 billion. The metric, which measures the total value of transactions processed, is seen as a sign of how effectively PayPal monetizes its platform.

Perhaps most encouraging was a full-year guidance hike. PayPal now expects full-year adjusted earnings of $5.38 a share, up from $5.31 in 2025. This compares with previous guidance calling for "low-single-digit decline to slightly positive growth," which the company reiterated as recently as May.

Additionally, PayPal now expects roughly $15.6 billion in transaction margin dollars for the full year -- a slight increase over 2025's $15.5 billion. Just last month, the company had anticipated a "slight decline."

While the raised outlook was modest, the optimism is encouraging for a turnaround that is still in its early stages. As of Monday's close, PayPal was down nearly 4% in 2026, trailing an 8.3% gain for the S&P 500.

While fintech stocks have generally experienced a tumultuous year, PayPal has come under particular pressure. A steep drop in February, sparked by disappointing fourth-quarter earnings and a CEO transition, erased nearly half its value.

Most of those losses were wiped out in mid-July after rumors of a takeover bid sent the shares sharply higher. Over the past month alone, the stock has rallied 27%.

Still, investors are cautiously waiting for a "strategic reorganization" to gather pace after CEO Enrique Lores first announced it earlier this year. Lores himself is a fresh face at the company, having taken over in early 2026 following Alex Chriss's brief tenure.

Rapid change at the company -- marked by executive turnover and a sluggish second quarter -- has failed to allay Wall Street's concerns. In fact, Evercore analyst Adam Fritsch characterized first-quarter earnings as merely a "placeholder" until the board outlined a clear path forward.

It remains to be seen if the latest report will soothe investors. Either way, it's clear that a full transformation won't happen overnight.