PayPal shares in focus: Possible interesting candidates for a takeover alongside Stripe

• PayPal beats EPS estimates but misses revenue slightly
• Enrique Lores replaces Alex Chriss
• In addition to Stripe, other possible candidates for a takeover

Numbers at a glance

At the beginning of February, the payment service provider PayPal opened its books and presented the results for the past quarter and the full year. In the fourth quarter, earnings per share of $1.53 were above analyst estimates of $1.29 and the previous year’s figure of $1.11 per share. Quarterly sales also rose from $8.33 billion in the same period last year to $8.7 billion. However, experts had previously expected a little more (8.79 billion US dollars).

For the full year, PayPal earned $5.41 per share, more than the previous year ($3.99 per share). Analysts had previously expected earnings to jump to $5.36 per share for the 2025 fiscal year. Sales were $33.2 billion after $31.79 billion in the previous year, narrowly missing analysts’ expectations of $33.27 billion.

CEO change at PayPal

At the start of the month there was a change at the top of the company at PayPal. After disappointing quarterly results and a weak outlook, the board of directors decided that Enrique Lores, previously head of the technology group HP, would take over the leadership. The previous CEO Alex Chriss, who had been in office since September 2023, left. The company justified its decision by saying that a comprehensive review showed that PayPal was not moving fast enough compared to competitors and the industry.

PayPal shares in focus

PayPal shares reacted to the quarterly figures and the news of the change in management at the beginning of February with heavy losses: they were ultimately 20.22 percent lower at 41.94 US dollars in trading on the NASDAQ. On February 13, the shares even slipped to a new 52-week low of $38.47. In the last few weeks, the shares have been able to recover somewhat from their price fall. PayPal shares are now back at $45.02, around 17 percent above their 52-week low. Since the beginning of the year, there has been a loss of around 23 percent and within the last twelve months the PayPal share has lost around 34 percent of its value (as of March 10, 2026).

Analyst ratings for PayPal shares

Analysts are cautious about the payment service provider’s securities, but still see some upside potential. According to TipRanks, 34 Wall Street analysts have provided a 12-month price target for PayPal in the last three months. Of these, only five recommend buying the stock, while 25 gave it a “hold” rating and four recommend selling. The average price target is $50.71, with a high forecast of $74.00 and a low forecast of $34.00. The average price target is 9.85 percent above the last price of $45.02 (as of March 10, 2026).

Takeover rumors

As Bloomberg reported last month, citing insider information, PayPal’s share price decline attracted interest from potential buyers. Due to demand, the company has held discussions with banks. Payment processor Stripe was said to be considering taking over all or part of PayPal. However, the discussions are still at an early stage. A Stripe representative declined to comment, it said. the payment processor Stripe takes over the full or partial takeover of PayPal. Whether there will ultimately be a deal is still completely open.

More possible buyers for PayPal

However, according to Forbes, well-known potential buyers such as Stripe, Apple or Amazon face regulatory hurdles, integration problems or have less incentive to take over PayPal. Therefore, the most interesting candidates would come from related industries that could acquire PayPal for strategic reasons outside of direct competition.

One of these candidates is the retail giant Walmart, which operates a fintech joint venture with One and reaches 240 million customers every week. PayPal could complement Walmart’s payments network, Venmo’s young customers and merchant relationships. Regulatory hurdles would be manageable since Walmart is not a bank, even if the corporate cultures are different.

Another possible buyer could be Intuit. The company has financial data for more than 100 million consumers and 8 million small businesses. PayPal would provide the transaction layer to the business, so a combined QuickBooks/PayPal system would be attractive as an all-in-one solution for small businesses. According to Forbes, Intuit would have the market capitalization and strategic vision to implement such a package.

Forbes lists IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) as another potential buyer. The company already owns the NYSE, Ellie Mae and Black Knight and has experience building banking infrastructure. PayPal’s payment infrastructure would expand the portfolio to include transaction data in the private customer sector and would be a good strategic fit.

A takeover by T-Mobile could also be interesting. The mobile operator has 120 million customers and has launched its own banking experiments with T-Mobile Money. PayPal would deliver Venmo, a consumer and merchant payments network, as well as payout capabilities for customers and merchants. This model works in Asia and could be seriously implemented for the first time in the United States.

PayPal could also be interesting for the ride-hailing company Uber, as Forbes reports. Uber processes $75 billion annually through 150 million passengers and seven million drivers. PayPal would provide the company with its own wallet, Venmo for the core target group 18 to 34, a payout infrastructure and an international payment network. Control over driver and dealer payouts in particular could bring enormous cost advantages.

Editorial team finanzen.net

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