PayPal's Q2 Earnings Divide Wall Street, But Retail Bulls Are Charging Ahead

PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) got a mixed response from Wall Street after posting its second-quarter (Q2) results, as some firms were encouraged by recent improvements, while others worried about slow growth in its main business and overall direction.

However,  on Stocktwits, retail sentiment toward the stock remained in ‘extremely bullish’ (91/100) territory amid ‘extremely high’ (90/100) message volume levels. Both sentiment and message volume were at a three-month high.

PayPal stock inched 0.2% lower on Wednesday afternoon. The stock experienced a 668% jump in user message count in 24 hours.

A bullish Stocktwits user expressed confidence in the stock.

Another user said the company has been doing “everything right and turning around.”

Meanwhile, Morgan Stanley nudged its price target up to $75 from $74 but maintained an ‘Equal Weight’ rating, as per TheFly 

The firm noted that investors had anticipated stronger momentum in PayPal’s branded checkout segment and a potential ‘beat and raise’ quarter. Still, shares slumped 8% after the earnings call.

Morgan Stanley also expressed hesitation regarding the sustainability of Venmo's checkout adoption, noting signs of customer churn. Additionally, the firm appeared skeptical about the company's strategy to expand into credit-related services.

Citizens JMP took a more bullish stance, lowering its price target from $110 to $100 but reaffirming an ‘Outperform’ rating. The firm pointed to encouraging developments, including PayPal's new checkout experience, which is now active on over 60% of U.S. checkout flows. 

Though the quarter produced a mixed bag of results, Wall Street remains split on how much runway PayPal has for future growth as it reshapes its user experience and navigates competitive pressures from fintech rivals and traditional banks.

The company’s Q2 revenue climbed 55% year-on-year (YoY) to $8.3 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $8.08 billion, as per Fiscal AI data. Payment transactions decreased 5% YoY to 6.2 billion.

PayPal stock has lost over 16% in 2025 and has gained over 10% in the last 12 months.

Also See: Zuckerberg Doubles Down On Personal AI, Sparks Retail Investor Interest: ‘Developing Superintelligence Is Now In Sight’

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