Key Stats for PayPal Stock
- Price change for PayPal stock: -20%
- $PYPL Share Price as of Feb. 3: $42
- 52-Week High: $80
- $PYPL Stock Price Target: $69
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What Happened?
PayPal (PYPL) stock suffered its worst single-day decline in years after the company announced a CEO change and issued disappointing 2026 guidance that fell well short of Wall Street expectations.
The payments giant replaced CEO Alex Chriss with HP veteran Enrique Lores, effective March 1. The board cited concerns about the pace of execution under Chriss, who had been with the company for just over a year.
Lores previously served as president and CEO of HP for more than six years. CFO Jamie Miller will serve as interim CEO during the transition.
The leadership shake-up came alongside weak fourth-quarter results and a troubling outlook.
- PayPal expects 2026 adjusted earnings to range from a low-single-digit decline to slight growth—far below the 8% growth analysts had projected.
- The company also pulled its 2027 targets entirely, saying it would now provide guidance just one year at a time.
- Fourth-quarter revenue missed estimates at $8.68 billion versus the expected $8.80 billion. Adjusted earnings of $1.23 per share also came in below the $1.29 consensus.
The core issue centers on PayPal’s branded checkout business, which slowed dramatically in the fourth quarter. Online branded checkout volume grew just 1%, down from 6% a year earlier.
Management pointed to weakness among middle and lower-income consumers, international headwinds (particularly in Germany), and slower adoption of new product features by merchants.
Miller acknowledged the company hasn’t executed well enough, noting that merchant integrations have taken longer than expected and that critical features like biometric authentication remain underdeployed across the customer base.
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What the Market Is Telling Us About PayPal Stock
The 19% plunge in PayPal stock reflects deep investor concern about the company’s ability to turn itself around.
This is the second CEO change in recent years as the company struggles to compete with Apple, Google, and newer fintech rivals while managing slowing e-commerce growth.
Analysts at Evercore ISI raised key questions about whether the new CEO would attempt another multi-year turnaround or consider strategic asset sales.
The uncertainty is weighing heavily on the stock.
While PayPal maintains strong positions in businesses like Venmo and enterprise payments, its core branded checkout segment—which represents over half of profit dollars—is clearly under pressure.
Management is investing heavily in merchant incentives, better product experiences, and loyalty programs, but those investments are weighing on near-term profitability without yet delivering clear results.
The fact that PayPal stock has now fallen more than 25% below its 52-week high shows investors remain skeptical about the timeline for a meaningful recovery.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
