PYPL Stock Climbs On West Coast Takeover Rumors After Stripe Walk-Away Leaves Room For A New Bidder

• Betaville claimed an unnamed West Coast U.S. technology company may be weighing an all-stock takeover of PayPal. 
• In July, Stripe and Advent International offered about $60.50 a share, or roughly $53 billion for the company, but a deal did not materialize. 
• Chief Executive Enrique Lores, who took over in March, has said PayPal will weigh outside offers against its standalone plan.

Shares of PayPal (PYPL) rose about 5% on Friday after traders circulated a fresh buyout rumor, adding a new chapter to a summer of deal talk that already lifted—and then knocked—the shares.

PYPL Shares Climb On Unverified Chatter

The spark was not a confirmed bid. Seeking Alpha reported that traders were passing around a Betaville “uncooked” alert or early, unverified deal chatter. The claim: an unnamed West Coast U.S. technology company may be weighing an all-stock takeover. No buyer was named. PayPal did not confirm an approach. The board, according to the Seeking Alpha report, still prefers cash.

Past PYPL Takeover Talks

Investors are primed because a larger deal already came and went. In July, Stripe and Advent International offered about $60.50 a share, or roughly $53 billion—a premium of about 28% to PayPal’s mid-July price. Talks continued into August. They collapsed around late August after the board viewed the price as too low and the two sides clashed over structure, including a reported $2 billion breakup fee. Shares fell about 13% in a day when that bid died.

Chief Executive Enrique Lores, who took over in March, has said PayPal will weigh outside offers against its standalone plan. That plan includes cost cuts and a large share-repurchase program as the company deals with years of slower growth and competition from Apple Pay and other wallets.

Other Optimism Drivers

Earlier this week, PayPal said it would put checkout inside Meta’s Muse AI shopping agent, so users can move from product search to payment without leaving the assistant.

Deutsche Bank also lifted its price target to $55 from $50 and kept a Hold rating on the shares earlier on Friday.

How Did PYPL Retail Traders React?

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PYPL stock rose from bearish to bullish territory over the past 24 hours, while message volume stayed at low levels.

A Stocktwits user opined that Meta or Amazon could be interested in PayPal but raised doubts about a bid given their high capital expenditure on AI.

Another user voiced optimism about the bid news being legit, provided that the stock held on to its gains through the day.

PYPL stock has fallen 6% year-to-date. 

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