PayPal in talks to sell itself to Stripe and Advent International consortium

Thomas Richmond Sat, August 15, 2026 at 2:28 PM PDT | 4 min read

• PYPL
• STRI.PVT

Quick Read

• PayPal (PYPL) surged after reports of active sale talks with a consortium led by Stripe and Advent International, following a previously rejected $60.50-per-share bid.
• Stripe, valued near $159 billion, would gain PayPal's 439 million active accounts and Braintree's merchant footprint, creating a combined $3 trillion payment platform.
• CEO Enrique Lores confirmed the board will objectively evaluate every opportunity as Q2 revenue hit $8.68 billion, with non-GAAP EPS beating consensus at $1.38.

PayPal Stock Surges on Sale Speculation

PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) 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
• 11.06% over the past month

PayPal currently trades at just 11.1x next year's expected earnings and 9.1x expected free cash flow. 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 the company is about fairly valued today with a market cap of $52.7 billion.

Prediction Markets React

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 (such as 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 directly:

"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 maximum value."