New York, February 24, 2026, 05:10 (ET) — Premarket
- PayPal jumped 5.8% at the close Monday, following a report about initial takeover interest.
- If there’s interest, potential buyers could target units like Venmo or Braintree instead of the full company.
- The upcoming CEO transition set for March 1, plus the next earnings report due in May, are both shaping up as key catalysts.
PayPal Holdings, Inc. jumped 5.8% to finish at $44.05 on Monday. The move came after Bloomberg News reported that the digital payments company is seeing early takeover interest as its shares tumble. PayPal wouldn’t comment. Reuters was unable to confirm the Bloomberg report independently. (Reuters)
This comes at a delicate moment for PayPal. On March 1, board chair Enrique Lores is set to step in as CEO, following the board’s criticism that the company’s recent changes have lagged behind what it wanted. Lores has pledged to move faster and more precisely. (PayPal)
Buyout chatter flares up with valuation concerns resurfacing. Dan Dolev at Mizuho called PayPal “deeply undervalued,” highlighting its standing in the tight club of global payment networks. (MarketWatch)
Sellers aren’t so much asking who might snap up PayPal—they’re more interested in what parts could hit the auction block. Wolfe Research pointed out PayPal trades at around 7 times projected 2027 EPS, a valuation using the price-to-earnings ratio, and suggested that segments like Venmo or the buy now, pay later business (installment-based checkout) might fetch higher standalone multiples. Over at Raymond James, analysts named mega-cap tech players as potential suitors, though they see a near-term acquisition as a long shot. (Investing.com)
Anyone making a bid faces a knife fight. PayPal must juggle protecting its branded checkout and driving volume via merchant processors. Big Tech and digital wallets are both edging in, zeroing in on that same critical customer checkpoint: the checkout screen.
Risk appetite took a hit across the board. Wall Street slumped hard Monday, pressured by fresh tariff questions and nerves over AI disruption, though PayPal bucked the drop—shares jumped on new takeover speculation. (Reuters)
Still, takeover talk comes easy—and disappears just as quickly. Most initial feelers don’t turn into actual offers, particularly once potential acquirers dig into the scale, integration hurdles, and payments politics.
Regulators remain unpredictable here. Any outright acquisition by a major payments player or a big tech company is almost guaranteed to face close examination. Even partial asset sales aren’t immune—anything that involves consumer data, credit, or how merchants are charged could easily stall in red tape.
On Tuesday, the focus turns to fresh signals—whether a corporate statement appears, or fresh reporting surfaces with details on who’s interested. Any sign from the board about selling off pieces, instead of holding out for a full takeover, will get attention. March 1, when the CEO transition happens, remains the big date to watch.
Looking further out, PayPal’s next notable event lands on May 5 with its first-quarter 2026 earnings call. Investors are set to hear how the fresh executive team lays out its approach—and whether talk of “strategic options” remains banker-speak or finally translates into a concrete roadmap. (PayPal)
