PayPal Holdings stock is holding near $60 a share, just shy of the $60.50-per-share bid that its board rejected from Stripe and Advent International in mid-July, signaling investor skepticism about whether a higher offer will materialize even as the payments giant pursues an aggressive turnaround.
Stripe and Advent made their $53 billion joint takeover proposal on July 15, 2026, according to Reuters. The offer valued PayPal at roughly a 28 percent premium to the company’s share price at that time. However, PayPal’s board deemed the price inadequate just days later, citing concerns that the offer did not reflect the company’s full potential under its current turnaround plan, regulatory hurdles, and financing uncertainty, Reuters reported.
The board’s rejection came at a pivotal moment for PayPal. Just two weeks after turning down the bid, the company reported second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations on July 28, 2026. PayPal posted adjusted earnings per share of $1.38, exceeding analyst estimates of $1.28, and raised its full-year non-GAAP earnings guidance to $5.38 per share, up from prior guidance calling for a slight decline, according to Yahoo Finance and Investing.com.
The earnings beat and guidance raise appeared to validate the board’s confidence that PayPal’s standalone strategy could unlock more value than the consortium’s offer. Total payment volume in the quarter reached $486.4 billion, up 9 percent year-over-year, signaling momentum in the company’s core business, according to Investing.com.
Betting on Venmo and Enterprise Growth
PayPal’s board is backing a turnaround strategy centered on two high-growth segments: Venmo and Enterprise Payments. In April 2026, PayPal restructured to make Venmo a standalone business unit, signaling management’s intention to accelerate monetization of the social payments app, according to CNBC. The company expects Venmo to exceed $2 billion in annual revenue ahead of schedule, and Enterprise Payments returned to double-digit volume growth in recent quarters, according to PayPal’s earnings disclosures and analyst reports.
The consortium’s offer, backed by roughly $50 billion in financing from JPMorgan and Morgan Stanley, included provisions to address potential antitrust concerns—including possible separation of PayPal’s Braintree business or other assets to be transferred to Advent, which could combine them with its existing payments investments, according to Reuters. Yet the board’s view was that even with financing secured, the offer undervalued PayPal’s long-term potential if management successfully executes its strategic pivot.
As of mid-August, PayPal stock remains near the bid price, suggesting the market is unconvinced that Stripe and Advent will raise their offer or that another bidder will emerge. The consortium has indicated it remains interested in reaching an agreement and is seeking to move quickly, though negotiations are likely to take time, Reuters reported. Block, which initially approached PayPal alongside Stripe and Advent in April, exited the consortium before the bid was submitted.
Sources
- Reuters — PayPal board’s rejection of the $53 billion bid, regulatory and financing concerns, and consortium details
- Yahoo Finance — PayPal Q2 2026 earnings beat, adjusted EPS of $1.38, and full-year guidance raise to $5.38 per share
- Investing.com — PayPal Q2 earnings call details, total payment volume growth to $486.4 billion
- CNBC — PayPal’s April 2026 restructuring making Venmo a standalone unit
- Robinhood, TradingView, SeekingAlpha — Current PayPal stock price near $60
