PayPal Is The Most Hated Stock We Track Today

Shares of PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL | PYPL Price Prediction) slipped 1.0% on January 9th to close at $57.66, coinciding with extreme negative sentiment on Reddit that has persisted for weeks. The company’s sentiment score hit 12 on a 100-point scale, categorized as “very bearish,” driven by a viral post from a retail trader down $20,000 on the stock who described it as a “garbage stock.”

The frustration isn’t isolated. Mentions of PayPal on r/WallStreetBets have centered on loss positions and capitulation, with the most viral post gaining 210 upvotes and 103 comments as traders shared their pain. The stock trades near its 52-week low of $55.72, down 38% from its peak of $93.03, despite beating earnings estimates in 8 of the last 9 quarters.

The chart illustrates the dramatic decline in Reddit sentiment over the past month, falling from neutral territory to “very bearish” as retail traders capitulated on their positions.

Retail Capitulation Reflects Broader Frustration

The most telling signal comes from r/wallstreetbets, where a trader posted about being down $20,000 on PayPal with 326% portfolio leverage. The post, titled “PayPal lose, going to yolo everything,” captures the desperation many retail holders feel. The user wrote they were considering selling their entire $100,000 position to buy weekly SPY puts, a classic capitulation signal.

The trader wrote: “I’m down 20k on this garbage stock. Should I just sell everything and buy SPY puts? This thing is never going back up.”

PayPal lose, going to yolo everything
by u/Designer-Arrival2743 in wallstreetbets

The negativity has concrete roots:

• PayPal trades at just 10x forward earnings despite 31% quarterly earnings growth
• The stock has fallen 75% from its 2021 peak of $231.38
• Insiders sold heavily in Q4 2025, with no significant purchases reported

Disconnect Between Performance and Price

PayPal reported Q3 2025 revenue of $8.42 billion, up 7.3% year-over-year, and EPS of $1.34 that beat estimates by $0.16. The company maintains a 24.4% return on equity and 15% profit margins. Yet the stock trades below both its 50-day moving average of $62.41 and 200-day moving average of $67.73. Analysts maintain a consensus target of $76.21, implying 32% upside, but 25 of 44 analysts rate it a hold.

Block (NYSE:SQ), a direct competitor in digital payments, faces similar headwinds but has maintained better sentiment among retail traders, suggesting PayPal’s issues may be company-specific rather than sector-wide. The company’s aggressive $1.5 billion share buyback in Q3 signals management confidence, but it hasn’t reversed the negative momentum. For investors willing to look past the Reddit noise, the valuation disconnect presents an opportunity, though the sentiment capitulation suggests further downside risk before any turnaround takes hold.

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