PayPal Holdings (PYPL) stock climbed 6.1% in Monday midday trading after a media report indicated that PayPal Holdings’ (PYPL) has piqued the interest of some potential acquirers, according to a media report on Monday.
The attention comes after PayPal stock slid ~44% in the past year, 22% in the past month alone.
The company that pioneered digital payments technology has held meetings with banks as it has received unsolicited interest from suitors, Bloomberg News reported, citing people familiar with the matter. At least one large competitor is considering an acquisition of the entire company, while others are looking at specific parts of PayPal (PYPL), they added.
The interest in the company is at a preliminary stage and may not result in a transaction, the people told Bloomberg.
PayPal (PYPL) stock was hit hard earlier this month when it reported worse-than-expected Q4 earnings, issued soft 2026 guidance, and ousted its CEO after he failed to turn the company around quickly enough. Macquarie analyst Paul Golding called the Q4 results “a function of growing competition and suboptimal execution amid soft macro dynamics.”
The company’s branded checkout total payment volume, excluding foreign currency effects, rose only 1% Y/Y in the quarter. That segment is important to PayPal (PYPL) because it has a higher profit margin than its unbranded offerings.
The company’s 2026 guidance also demonstrated that PayPal (PYPL) is losing market share, BTIG analyst Andrew Harte said.
PayPal was founded in 1998 as Confinity, went public through an initial public offering in 2002, was acquired by eBay later that year, and then was spun off as a separately traded stock in 2015.