New York, Feb 24, 2026, 19:02 EST — After-hours
PayPal Holdings (PYPL.O) jumped almost 7% Tuesday, following a Bloomberg News story that private payments player Stripe is weighing an acquisition of PayPal—or at least some of its assets. Both PayPal and Stripe kept quiet on the chatter. Reuters said it couldn’t confirm the Bloomberg report independently. Stripe, for its part, landed a $159 billion valuation in a tender offer this day, allowing staff and early backers to offload shares. (Reuters)
The Stripe twist comes right after a difficult period for PayPal, which has faced takeover speculation as its shares tumbled and doubts swirled about its comeback plan. According to Bloomberg, PayPal recently sat down with banks following unsolicited approaches from would-be buyers. One major competitor reportedly weighed a full-company bid, while others were eyeing only select divisions. Since peaking in mid-2021, PayPal stock has dropped roughly 85%, as Reuters notes. (Reuters)
PayPal surged 6.74% to close at $47.02, with shares changing hands at an unusually brisk pace—57.8 million traded, pushing volume to 187% above its three-month norm. The action followed a burst of deal chatter around the stock. The S&P 500 added 0.77% while the Nasdaq Composite advanced 1.04% on the day. (Nasdaq)
Size is the sticking point for PayPal on Wall Street. “The sale of certain assets is more likely than the sale of the entire business,” Truist’s Matthew Coad said, while Don Bilson at Gordon Haskett flagged PayPal’s market cap as a hurdle: only the largest buyers could even consider a deal. Coad also mentioned PayPal’s enterprise value, or “EV”—which takes debt into account—as another filter limiting potential bidders. (Investing.com South Africa)
At this stage, it’s just headlines—no formal paperwork, no disclosed offer, no set timeline, and not a hint of a price.
That’s the risk here. Should the chatter die down, or if financing gets tricky, the stock could drop right back to where it traded before all the takeover buzz started.
There’s also the context that pushed PayPal into the spotlight: growth has cooled, rivals are getting fiercer, and consumers are showing signs of cutting back.
Traders now have to wonder: Will PayPal’s board hint it’s willing to consider a wider review — or just stay silent and hold out for a formal bid?
Investors have their eyes peeled for any forced disclosures—a statement, an SEC filing, maybe even a report that spells out who’s in talks with whom, and which PayPal assets are actually up for grabs.
Earlier this month, PayPal tapped Chief Financial Officer Jamie Miller as interim CEO ahead of Enrique Lores stepping in on March 1. Miller, speaking to analysts at the time, said the company faced “pressure across our retail merchant portfolio, particularly among lower and middle-income consumers.” Now, as that CEO transition lands, takeover chatter is swirling—a calendar mark for traders hunting the next move. (Reuters)
