Share price halved: Increasing interest in a PayPal takeover
In just a few months, PayPal's share price has almost halved and the outlook is not rosy. Now there is likely interest in a takeover.
(Image: JarTee/Shutterstock.com)
After months of decline in PayPal shares, during which their value almost halved, there are increasingly more interested parties for a takeover of the payment service provider. This was made public by Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources, after which the stock price immediately made a noticeable jump of up to almost 10 percent at times. According to the report, at least one “rival” has expressed interest in a complete takeover of PayPal, while others would only be interested in individual assets. PayPal itself has reportedly already initiated talks with banks, though all negotiations could still fall apart.
PayPal in a “dead end”
As recently as last summer, a PayPal share cost over US$78; after a long decline, the price had temporarily fallen to around US$41 two weeks ago. Bloomberg explains this with a “dead end” the service provider finds itself in, as customers are “increasingly resorting to alternative payment methods.” This primarily concerns lost market share to Apple Pay and Google Pay. Furthermore, the company has not succeeded in modernizing its technology and keeping up with rivals. At the same time, the financial news agency quotes experts with the assessment that PayPal is “deeply undervalued” on the stock exchanges given its global significance.
Videos by heise
Due to PayPal's negative business development, the CEO was already dismissed at the beginning of February with immediate effect; next week, the previous chairman of the supervisory board will take over. However, this has not calmed the stock markets; quite the contrary. Following this abrupt leadership change alone, the stock price plummeted by almost 20 percent and has not recovered since. Investors were also dissatisfied with PayPal's outlook. PayPal had hoped for future growth, particularly through AI agents that are supposed to spend their consumers' money, as well as from advertising revenue and so-called stablecoins.
(mho)
