(Reuters) - Payment processor PayPal Holdings Inc reported better-than-expected quarterly revenue as it added customers and processed more payments and the company said it would buy back up to $2 billion of its stock.
Shares of PayPal, which completed its spin-off from eBay Inc (O:EBAY) in July, rose 6.4 percent to $33.66 in extended trading on Wednesday.
PayPal said its active account base increased by 6.6 million in the fourth quarter compared with the third quarter, and that it ended the year with 179 million active customer accounts.
That was more than the 177.3 million accounts analysts on average had estimated, according to research firm FactSet StreetAccount.
PayPal said total payment volume grew more than 23 percent to $81.52 billion.
The company processed 1.4 billion payment transactions, more than analysts' estimate of 1.37 billion, according to FactSet StreetAccount.
PayPal's net income rose to $367 million, or 30 cents per share, from $286 million, or 23 cents per share.
Excluding items, the company earned 36 cents per share, beating analysts' expectations of 35 cents.
Revenue rose about 17 percent to $2.56 billion.