Royal Bank Of Canada Issues Pessimistic Forecast for PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL) Stock Price

Posted by Stacy Sanders on Feb 4th, 2026

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) had its price objective dropped by equities research analysts at Royal Bank Of Canada from $91.00 to $59.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,MarketScreener reports. The firm presently has an “outperform” rating on the credit services provider’s stock. Royal Bank Of Canada’s price target suggests a potential upside of 44.65% from the company’s current price.

PYPL has been the topic of several other reports. Wells Fargo & Company set a $48.00 price objective on shares of PayPal in a report on Wednesday. Rothschild & Co Redburn downgraded PayPal from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $50.00 price target on the stock. in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. KGI Securities reduced their price target on PayPal from $85.00 to $80.00 in a research report on Monday, November 10th. Mizuho set a $60.00 price objective on PayPal in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Truist Financial set a $58.00 target price on shares of PayPal in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, thirty have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $64.98.

View Our Latest Analysis on PYPL

PayPal Stock Performance

Shares of PayPal stock opened at $40.79 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.34 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $58.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $65.01. The firm has a market cap of $38.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 8.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.65 and a beta of 1.43. PayPal has a 12 month low of $41.43 and a 12 month high of $82.69.

PayPal (NASDAQ:PYPL – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The credit services provider reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.06). The business had revenue of $8.68 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.82 billion. PayPal had a return on equity of 25.64% and a net margin of 14.96%.The firm’s revenue was up 4.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that PayPal will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, EVP Aaron Webster sold 9,282 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.29, for a total value of $615,303.78. Following the sale, the executive vice president owned 35,699 shares in the company, valued at $2,366,486.71. This represents a 20.64% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Suzan Kereere sold 4,162 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.84, for a total value of $249,054.08. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 30,983 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,854,022.72. This trade represents a 11.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 0.08% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of PayPal

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hilltop National Bank purchased a new stake in PayPal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. MUFG Securities EMEA plc increased its position in shares of PayPal by 100.4% during the second quarter. MUFG Securities EMEA plc now owns 385 shares of the credit services provider’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 87,524 shares in the last quarter. Kelleher Financial Advisors purchased a new position in PayPal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Cloud Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in PayPal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Finally, VSM Wealth Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of PayPal during the second quarter worth $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 68.32% of the company’s stock.

Key PayPal News

Here are the key news stories impacting PayPal this week:

Positive Sentiment: Experienced CEO hire could improve execution long-term; Lores has run HP and has been PayPal’s board chair. PayPal replaces CEO Alex Chriss with HP’s Enrique Lores
Neutral Sentiment: PayPal reported modest top-line growth in Q4 (revenue up vs. year-ago) and continues returning capital (recent small dividend announcement), which supports baseline cash generation but doesn’t erase strategic questions. PayPal Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2025 Results (press release/slide deck)
Negative Sentiment: Q4 adjusted EPS missed estimates ($1.23 vs. ~$1.29 consensus) and revenue missed/was light; the company issued a weaker 2026 profit outlook — the immediate catalyst for the sell-off. PayPal Q4 earnings and call highlights
Negative Sentiment: Multiple analysts cut ratings and price targets (including a Morgan Stanley sell and other downgrades), signaling lowered expectations and adding selling pressure. Underweight on PayPal: Morgan Stanley reiterates Sell
Negative Sentiment: Strategic headwinds — branded checkout growth is decelerating, transactions per account softened and competitors are gaining — raising doubts about where PayPal’s next growth engine will come from. PayPal Shares Sink Amid Online Branded Checkout Headwinds
Negative Sentiment: Shareholder lawsuits / securities fraud investigations were announced quickly after the leadership change, adding legal and execution risk. Securities Fraud Investigation Into PayPal Announced

About PayPal

(Get Free Report)

PayPal Holdings, Inc operates a global digital payments platform that enables consumers and merchants to send and receive payments online, on mobile devices and at the point of sale. The company provides a broad set of payment solutions, including a digital wallet, merchant payment processing, checkout services, invoicing and fraud-management tools. PayPal’s platform is designed to support e-commerce, in-person retail and person-to-person transfers, targeting both individual consumers and businesses of varying sizes.

Key products and services in PayPal’s portfolio include the PayPal wallet and checkout ecosystem, the Venmo peer-to-peer mobile app, Braintree’s developer-focused payment gateway, Xoom for international money transfers, and PayPal Credit and buy-now-pay-later options.