PayPal shares drop 12.71% after Stripe and Advent abandon $53 billion takeover bid
The collapse of a $53 billion acquisition bid sent PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) down 12.71% on Friday to close at $53.66, unwinding the premium investors had built in since the deal first surfaced. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Advent International and Stripe officially dropped the offer, which had been priced at $60.50 per share, a 27.7% premium to PayPal's $47.37 close before the news broke. The two parties had planned to take equal ownership of the company if the transaction had proceeded.
Key takeaways
- PayPal shares fell 12.71% on Friday to close at $53.66 after Advent International and Stripe dropped their $53 billion takeover bid.
- The abandoned offer was priced at $60.50 per share, a 27.7% premium to PayPal's prior $47.37 close, with Advent and Stripe planning equal ownership.
- PayPal's Q2 GAAP net revenues rose 5% to $8.682 billion and total payment volume grew 10% to $486.4 billion, but net income fell 11% to $1.219 billion.
- Mizuho cut its price target to $51 from $60 (neutral) and Loop Capital lowered its target to $50 from $62 (hold) after the report.
- PayPal is down 23.41% over the past year and 81% over five years, and is running a restructuring into three units targeting up to $1.5 billion in cost savings.
The collapse of a $53 billion acquisition bid sent PayPal Holdings (NASDAQ: PYPL) down 12.71% on Friday to close at $53.66, unwinding the premium investors had built in since the deal first surfaced. Bloomberg, citing people familiar with the matter, reported that Advent International and Stripe officially dropped the offer, which had been priced at $60.50 per share, a 27.7% premium to PayPal's $47.37 close before the news broke. The two parties had planned to take equal ownership of the company if the transaction had proceeded.
The numbers behind the setup
With the deal off, investors are back to evaluating PayPal on its own throughput and cost discipline. Second-quarter GAAP net revenues came in at $8.682 billion, up 5% from $8.288 billion a year earlier. Total payment volume, the clearest operational read on the platform, grew 10% to $486.4 billion. Net income dropped 11% to $1.219 billion from $1.37 billion in the same quarter last year. Payment volume is expanding. The bottom line is not. The board approved a $0.14 per share dividend for holders of record as of September 4, 2026, payable September 25.
PayPal has shed 23.41% over the past 12 months and is down 81% over five years, a period that coincides with intensifying competition across the digital payments industry. Management is running a restructuring that splits the company into three business units, targeting up to $1.5 billion in cost savings over the next several years.
Analyst reaction and institutional positioning
Two firms moved price targets lower following Bloomberg's report. Mizuho Securities cut to $51 from $60, keeping a neutral stance. Loop Capital moved to $50 from $62, also maintaining a hold.
Insider Monkey data showed hedge fund ownership fell to 60 funds in the second quarter from 76 the quarter before. Combined holdings slipped to $1.207 billion from $1.217 billion. The narrow dollar decline suggests the funds that stayed largely held their exposure even as a significant number of names exited outright. The next thing to watch is whether the restructuring's cost program begins showing up in the income line when PayPal reports the third quarter.
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Filed by the newsroom of MarketPR on August 31, 2026. Source: finance.yahoo.com. Indicative figures are not investment advice.