TLDR
- PayPal insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares worth $1.56M, cutting her stake by 54.8%
- Q4 EPS missed at $1.23 vs. $1.29 estimate; revenue of $8.68B fell short of the $8.82B forecast
- 2026 EPS guidance came in well below Wall Street expectations, sparking a 20% post-earnings drop
- CEO Alex Chriss is out; HP’s Enrique Lores steps in as the surprise replacement
- Stock trades near 52-week lows with a P/E of 7.7, down roughly 30% year-to-date
PayPal is dealing with a lot at once — and the market is not being patient about it.
On February 18, insider Suzan Kereere sold 37,613 shares at an average of $41.49, totaling $1,560,563. The sale cut her stake by 54.8%, leaving her with 30,983 shares. It was disclosed in an SEC filing.
The sale came shortly after a bruising earnings report on February 3. PayPal posted Q4 EPS of $1.23, missing the $1.29 consensus. Revenue came in at $8.68 billion against an $8.82 billion estimate. Year-over-year revenue growth was 4%.
The guidance was the real gut punch. Management forecast 2026 adjusted EPS growth in a “low-single digit decline to slightly positive” range. Analysts had expected 8% growth. Shares dropped 20% immediately after the print.
CEO Departure Adds to Uncertainty
The earnings report also came with a surprise leadership change. Alex Chriss, who had led the company since September 2023, is stepping down at the end of February.
Enrique Lores, CEO of HP since 2019 and a PayPal board member since 2021, will take his place. There had been no prior signals of a leadership shake-up, which added to the negative reaction from investors.
Several securities-fraud class action lawsuits have since been filed, covering the period from February 25, 2025 through February 2, 2026, alleging misstatements around growth and guidance.
Analysts Cut Targets, But Some Institutions Buy In
The analyst response has been cautious. Canaccord Genuity slashed its price target from $100 to $42 and kept a hold. Rothschild & Co Redburn cut from $50 to $32 and issued a sell. Raymond James set a $48 target. Of 44 analysts tracked by MarketBeat, nine rate it a buy, thirty a hold, and five a sell. The average target sits at $61.03.
On the institutional side, Vanguard increased its stake by 6.5% in Q4, now holding over 90 million shares. Norges Bank initiated a new position worth roughly $950 million. Invesco added 9.7% to its holdings.
The bull case centers on a P/E of 7.7, $5.6 billion in free cash flow generated in 2025, and a planned $6 billion share buyback program. PayPal also has 231 million monthly active accounts across its two-sided platform.
PYPL traded at $41.73 on February 19, within a 52-week range of $38.46 to $79.50, and remains down roughly 30% year-to-date.
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