PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL | PYPL Price Prediction) shares jumped Friday after CNBC’s MacKenzie Sigalos reported on-air that a Wall Street Journal story had recently been published detailing active sale discussions between PayPal and a consortium led by private fintech rival Stripe and private equity firm Advent International.
Sigalos framed PayPal’s share price move as driven by deal speculation: “Those shares are popping on a Wall Street Journal story saying that the fintech firm is in talks to sell itself to a group that includes Stripe and then private equity firm Advent International.“
She reminded viewers of the backstory: “It was just a few weeks ago that the PayPal board weighed a bid by Stripe and Advent when they proposed paying $60.50 a share for PayPal, a price that the PayPal board viewed as insufficient at the time, according to some of the sources speaking to the Journal.”
Where PayPal Stock Sits Today
PayPal closed Friday’s trading session at $61.66, up 1.77% on the day, 4.38% on the week, and 11.06% over the past month. PayPal currently trades at just 11.1x next year’s expected earnings and 9.1x expected FCF. The stock still trades below its 52-week high of $78.53, and shares remain down 77.38% over five years. Analysts have an average price target of $58.83, implying they think the company is just about fairly valued today with a market cap of $52.7 billion.
Prediction markets moved in step with the report. Polymarket’s “Will Stripe acquire PayPal in 2026?” contract jumped from an 18.3% implied probability on August 14 to 38.1% on August 15. A parallel market on Stripe acquiring “any part” of PayPal sits at 66.5%, suggesting traders view a partial carve-out (think Braintree or Hyperwallet) as more probable than a full takeout.
PayPal’s Board Leaves the Door Open After $60.50 Deal Rejection
On PayPal’s Q2 earnings call, new CEO Enrique Lores addressed the acquisition speculation head-on: “As a matter of policy, we don’t comment on market speculation or potential M&A discussion. As a board and management team, our responsibility is to maximize long-term shareholder value.”
He added that the board is “open and has a clear responsibility to objectively evaluate every opportunity that is presented to us, compare it with our own plan, and choose the option that creates more value.” This implies management is leaving the door open to more favorable acquisition offers.
Q2 2026 revenue came in at $8.68 billion, up 4.8% year over year, with non-GAAP EPS of $1.38 beating the $1.28 consensus. Total payment volume rose 10% to $486.45 billion. Venmo TPV grew 14% year over year, Braintree accelerated to 13%, and BNPL rose 26%.
Why Stripe and Advent Want PayPal Now
If Stripe bought PayPal, it would gain PayPal’s consumer network, Venmo’s roughly 439 million active accounts, and Braintree’s enterprise merchant footprint. Stripe is currently a private company valued at about $159 billion.
Advent International is expected to bring financing for the deal, as well as the operational playbook to squeeze cost out of the PayPal business, which has cycled through three CEOs in under a year (Alex Chriss, interim Jamie Miller, then Lores). A combined platform would process about $3.7 trillion in payment volume, which means the deal would likely invite regulatory scrutiny.
Key Takeaways
With PayPal stock currently trading at $61.66, above Stripe’s rejected $60.50/share bid for PayPal, the market is pricing in the possibility that Stripe might eventually make a higher offer. Options positioning skews bullish, with a full-chain put/call ratio of 0.17.
Nothing is signed, but PayPal’s rejection of the original $60.50 bid suggests Stripe and Advent may need to return with a richer offer. Investors should now watch for a revised proposal, a formal board response, or a potential deal for only part of PayPal’s business.
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