New York, Feb 27, 2026, 07:43 EST — Premarket
PayPal Holdings (PYPL.O) rose 1.2% to $46.08 in premarket action Friday, clawing back a bit after a 3.8% drop the previous session.
This week, the stock’s been jumpy, traders picking through deal chatter versus actual progress. The board’s next steps are in play, with a new CEO stepping in March 1—now tangled right into the price moves.
On Tuesday, Bloomberg News said Stripe was weighing a takeover—potentially for all or just segments—of PayPal. That headline sent PayPal’s shares surging. Spokespeople for both firms wouldn’t comment.
The story shifted on Thursday, after Semafor reported—citing sources familiar with the situation—that PayPal isn’t engaged in sale discussions with Stripe or any other party right now. TechCrunch added that PayPal has been working with bankers to brace for a potential activist push or even a hostile bid. PayPal, according to the report, offered no comment when contacted.
PayPal shares kicked off Thursday at $47.50, briefly climbed to $47.73, then dropped to $44.49 before settling at $45.53 on the close. Trading volume came in around 48 million shares—almost twice what the stock usually sees.
Despite Thursday’s drop, PayPal still holds a roughly 9% gain since its Feb. 20 close. A sharp two-day rally earlier this week, fueled by chatter of buyout bids and possible asset sales across the sector, gave shares a lift.
Setting aside M&A speculation, PayPal has been rolling out new features. On Feb. 25, the company announced Rainforest customers can now add PayPal, Venmo, and PayPal Pay Later directly to checkout—these so-called “embedded payments” keep the payment options within business software, not routed through an outside gateway. “Vertical software is a strategic growth area for PayPal,” said Taira Hall, senior vice president and head of SMB commercial at PayPal. PayPal Newsroom
PayPal highlighted its push into artificial intelligence, noting it landed the top spot for AI talent in the 2026 Evident AI Index for Payments. Chief Technology Officer Srini Venkatesan referenced “trusted AI-driven experiences” as automation spreads across commerce. PayPal Newsroom
Visa took the top spot in the index, followed by Mastercard and PayPal, according to Business Insider. The piece points to major payments players ramping up AI hiring at a faster clip than much of the sector. Still, the report calls out a familiar issue: firms tout AI plans, but details on how those efforts hit the bottom line remain scarce.
The tape offered little relief. U.S. stocks ended Thursday in the red, with the Nasdaq off 1.18% as Nvidia’s drop put pressure on risk appetite, according to Reuters.
Buyout rumors alone don’t hold up a rally for long. If a bidder fails to appear, or if negotiations bog down over price, funding, or regulatory snags, investors are left focusing on PayPal’s business overhaul and its guarded outlook for 2026. Earlier this month, the company ousted CEO Alex Chriss, picked Enrique Lores from HP to take over, and projected 2026 adjusted profit to be roughly flat or even a bit lower. Evercore ISI flagged that investors are keen to see if Lores will “review options for strategic assets.” Reuters
With the U.S. session kicking off, traders are watching for any new word out of PayPal or Stripe. Clear indications that activist interest is shifting from chatter to actual filings remain top of mind. March 1 stands as the next firm milestone—Lores takes the helm then.
