PYPL Stock Hit With Price-Target Cuts As Stripe Takeover Hopes Fade: Analyst Sees Possible Negotiating Tactic

• Truist lowered the price target on PayPal to $53 from $62 and maintained a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares following the news, according to The Fly.
• Clear Street also slashed the price target on PayPal to $55 from $61 and kept a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares after the news. 
• However, RBC Capital upped the price target on PYPL stock to $70 from $65 and maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares, implying an upside of nearly 33% from its last close. 

Shares of PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) closed down nearly 2% on Monday, wrapping up its worst month since May after reports last week indicated that Stripe and Advent were backing out of their proposed acquisition of the fintech company. Meanwhile, a Wall Street analyst thinks this could be a negotiating tactic to lower the potential purchase price. 

Truist lowered the price target on PayPal to $53 from $62 and maintained a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares following the news, according to The Fly. This implies an upside of about 0.65% from its last closing price. 

Truist also questioned the strategic rationale of Stripe acquiring PayPal, saying the limited logic could constrain how much Stripe would be willing to offer for a buyout. 

What Are Other Analysts Saying About PayPal?

Clear Street also slashed the price target on PayPal to $55 from $61 and kept a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares after the news. The firm said that it is applying a lower multiple to reflect takeover opportunity and continued execution risk around its turnaround plans. 

Meanwhile, RBC Capital upped the price target on PYPL stock to $70 from $65 and maintained an ‘Outperform’ rating on the shares, implying an upside of nearly 33% from its last close. The analyst said the change was part of a broader research note on the fintech and payments space that prompted an update to its valuation framework, with estimates rolled forward to 2027.

Stripe-Advent Back Out Of PayPal Acquisition 

Last week, Bloomberg reported that private equity firm Advent and payment processor Stripe have decided to abandon their buyout plans for PayPal, which it had been pursuing since April. 

However, the report also added that the situation was fluid, and that the two companies could still return with a revised offer later. 

In July, reports indicated that Stripe and Advent International were proposing an acquisition of PayPal for $60.50 per share, valuing the payments company at more than $53 billion. 

Later reports suggested that PayPal was not satisfied with the offer and thought that the bid was insufficient. 

PYPL Stock: Retail Sentiment

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PYPL stock was ‘bullish’ at the time of writing, with message volumes surging nearly 304% over 24 hours, as per platform data. 

One user noted, “$PYPL TAKEOVER BET COLLAPSES. PayPal shares got slammed after reports that the Advent/Stripe consortium walked away from a potential acquisition. The bigger question now: Was the takeover premium the only thing holding $PYPL up?”

Another user said, “$PYPL nobody walks away from $6BILLION free cash flow that pays for the deal itself… hold and keep buying more.”

A third user said, “$PYPL 45B market cap, biggest fintech payment processor in the world, 6B fcf with margin for improvement (thr conpany os absolutely bloated, too many overheads), less then 10pe? Ridiculously cheap.”

PYPL stock is down more than 9% in 2026. 

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