PayPal Stock Declines 33% Amidst Growth Challenges and Future Uncertainty
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Jan 07 2026
0mins
Source: Fool
- Stock Performance Decline: Over the past year, PayPal's stock has declined by 33%, contrasting with a 16% rise in the S&P 500, indicating increased macroeconomic and competitive pressures that have weakened investor confidence.
- Slow Active Account Growth: Although PayPal aims to reach 750 million active accounts by 2025, its active accounts grew only from 426 million to 438 million from 2021 to 2024, falling short of expectations and impacting its market competitiveness.
- Transaction Volume Decline: PayPal's payment transaction volume has fallen for four consecutive quarters, and while total payment volume increased, the dip in transaction take rates has pressured revenue, forcing a strategic shift towards higher-value transactions.
- Cautious Future Outlook: PayPal's revenue is expected to rise gradually as it focuses on partnerships with credit card companies, new service rollouts, and stabilizing take rates, indicating potential to attract value-seeking investors despite the end of its high-growth phase.
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Analyst Views on PYPL
Wall Street analysts forecast PYPL stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for PYPL is 72.86 USD with a low forecast of 51.00 USD and a high forecast of 100.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
29 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
19 Hold
4 Sell
Hold
Current: 54.080
Low
51.00
Averages
72.86
High
100.00
Current: 54.080
Low
51.00
Averages
72.86
High
100.00
About PYPL
PayPal Holdings, Inc. offers a technology platform. The Company’s products are designed to enable digital payments and simplify commerce experiences for consumers and merchants to make selling, shopping, and sending and receiving money simple, personalized, and secure, online or offline, including mobile. It provides consumers with a digital wallet that enables them to send payments to merchants securely using a variety of funding sources, which include a bank account, a PayPal or Venmo account balance, its consumer credit products, a credit card, a debit card, certain cryptocurrencies, or other stored value products. It operates a global, two-sided network at scale that connects consumers and merchants with 434 million active accounts across approximately 200 markets. Its brands include PayPal, Braintree, Venmo, Xoom, Hyperwallet, PayPal Zettle, PayPal Honey, and Paidy. It offers financing products through the PayPal Working Capital (PPWC) and PayPal Business Loan (PPBL).
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
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