NEW YORK, Feb 25, 2026, 05:27 EST — Premarket
Shares of PayPal Holdings (PYPL.O) grabbed attention ahead of the U.S. open Wednesday, following a Bloomberg report that Stripe is mulling a bid for some or all of the payments giant. PayPal surged 6.7% Tuesday, closing at $47.02 after moving between $43.03 and $48.00. Stripe, carrying a valuation near $159 billion, is said to have expressed early-stage interest, but both sides kept quiet on the matter. 1
Chatter about Stripe surfaced not long after a separate report said PayPal was attracting takeover interest in the wake of its steep stock decline. According to Bloomberg, PayPal has been in talks with banks, fielding unsolicited bids from would-be buyers. One major competitor is said to be weighing a full acquisition, while others are scoping out select assets. None of these conversations have advanced beyond an early stage, and there’s no guarantee a deal materializes, Bloomberg noted. 2
Why it matters now: PayPal can’t seem to get out of its own way. The turnaround narrative keeps getting pushed out. Earlier this month, the company projected 2026 profit below what Wall Street was looking for and scrapped its outlook for 2027, blaming weaker consumer spending. The core branded checkout business — that familiar PayPal button — saw growth edge up just 1% over the holiday quarter, losing ground as Apple and Google ramped up competition. 3
PayPal’s board just named Enrique Lores as its new CEO, effective March 1, according to a filing. Until then, finance chief Jamie Miller steps in as interim chief executive. Independent chair David Dorman, in the company statement, pointed to Lores’ “disciplined execution” as key for the coming chapter. 4
Some on the Street think it’s less about selling all of PayPal and more about picking off key divisions. Bernstein SocGen’s Harshita Rawat kept her Market Perform call and $45 target, writing that “a sum-of-the-parts valuation remains a possibility”—with Braintree alone worth $10 billion to $15 billion, and Venmo pegged around $5 billion, just to name two. “Sum-of-the-parts” boils down to what each business might command if split off. 5
Traders are watching for signs that talks are shifting from informal chatter to a concrete process. Once that happens, advisers tend to get involved, timelines tighten up, and the messaging sharpens: is it Venmo, Braintree, or the main wallet and checkout unit that’s actually being considered?
Big numbers and uncertain logic tend to kill off M&A chatter fast. If a bid does land, investors are left sizing up whether the acquirer is signing up for a recovery that hasn’t yet materialized in the company’s performance.
PayPal’s facing a cybersecurity issue of its own. According to TechRadar, the company acknowledged a data breach involving its Working Capital loan application—a software glitch exposed information of about 100 clients. Those affected are being offered credit monitoring, PayPal said. 6
May 5 is circled: PayPal reports Q1 numbers and hosts its earnings call at 8:00 a.m. ET. Investors will be watching for any mention—or non-mention—of strategic alternatives as results drop. 7
