New York, Feb 4, 2026, 19:36 EST — After-hours
- PayPal shares slipped 1.6% in after-hours trading, staying close to their session lows.
- The board appointed HP’s Enrique Lores as CEO starting March 1, while CFO Jamie Miller will serve as interim chief.
- After Q4 results, attention stayed on PayPal’s 2026 profit forecast and the slowdown in branded checkout growth.
Shares of PayPal Holdings slipped 1.6% to $41.03 in after-hours trading Wednesday, following a steep selloff sparked by an unexpected CEO departure and a weaker profit forecast for 2026. During the session, the stock fluctuated between $39.97 and $42.47.
This move is crucial as PayPal aims to rejuvenate its core checkout business amid shaky consumer spending and increasing pressure from Big Tech in online payments. Investors are looking for signs that the company can boost growth without sacrificing margin.
PayPal announced that Enrique Lores, HP Inc’s CEO and a current PayPal board member, will step in as president and CEO starting March 1. This follows Alex Chriss’s departure on February 2. In the interim, CFO Jamie Miller will hold the CEO role.
Board chair David Dorman described Lores as someone who delivers “disciplined execution” and framed the leadership switch as a move to accelerate results. Lores emphasized the need for PayPal to “execute with greater speed and precision.” Chriss added that “now is the right time” to step aside. SEC
PayPal reported net revenue up 4% to $8.676 billion in the holiday quarter, with adjusted earnings hitting $1.23 per share. Total payment volume—the value of payments processed—rose 9% to $475.1 billion, while active accounts crept up to 439 million. Looking ahead to 2026, the company expects adjusted EPS to fall anywhere between a low-single-digit percentage decline and a modest increase. It also announced its first quarterly cash dividend at $0.14 per share. During the quarter, PayPal bought back around 23 million shares, sinking $1.5 billion into repurchases, adding to $6.0 billion in buybacks over the past year.
On Tuesday, PayPal’s results and outlook fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares tumbling 19%. The company scrapped its specific 2027 targets and said it will now provide guidance on an annual basis. CEO Miller told analysts, “We saw pressure across our retail merchant portfolio, particularly among lower and middle-income consumers.” The company noted that growth in online branded checkout slowed sharply to 1% this quarter, down from 6% a year ago. Reuters
Evercore ISI’s Adam Frisch slashed his PayPal price target to $40 from $65, maintaining an In Line rating. He flagged slowing branded online growth and 2026 guidance that offers little sign of a quick turnaround. The firm also noted that the CEO transition and a lack of strategic changes “continue to cloud visibility” on a clear recovery. TipRanks
Branded checkout refers to the recognizable PayPal button shoppers see at online checkouts. It usually delivers higher margins compared to unbranded processing, meaning even slight changes in its growth rate can quickly impact profits.
The risk here: a CEO shuffle might stall the clock without boosting shares. If PayPal can’t win back key merchants during major shopping seasons, it could find itself shelling out more simply to maintain its position amid intensifying competition and the loss of interest-rate support.
Traders are on alert for early strategy hints ahead of the March 1 handover, eyeing the next quarterly update closely to see if branded checkout can hold steady under the new leadership.
