PayPal (PYPL) Stock Forecast: Stripe and Advent Bid $60.50; Is $61.65 the Next Target?

TradingKey - On Wednesday, July 15, PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) was exchanging at about $57.16 after the stock gained by 20.76%, its largest daily increase in a few years, amid an early Wednesday report from Reuters that Stripe and private equity house Advent International made a joint proposal to purchase PayPal at $60.50 per share, or more than $53 billion in all.

The bid, backed by $50 billion in committed bank financing, would represent a 28% markup of PayPal’s Tuesday’s closing price of $47.37. PayPal, Stripe, and Advent did not reply immediately. The board has not accepted the proposal and is assessing its alternatives. The 4H picture shows price at $57.16 after breaking above $52.22 resistance. RSI hit roughly 89. Earnings for Q2 are still set for July 28.

The Stripe-Advent Offer — What $60.50 Per Share Actually Means

Stripe, a private payments startup with a valuation estimated at $159 billion, and Advent International, which only last week announced it raised a buyout vehicle worth about $26 billion, reportedly made the proposal earlier this month and Reuters reported on it Wednesday morning. According to the proposed structure, PayPal would be owned equally by Stripe and Advent without any intent to break up PayPal. PayPal would remain an integrated company. 

With committed bank financing for $50 billion, the transaction appears well-funded rather than backed by any contingent financing that increases the prospect of this being a speculative bid.

The strategic rationale makes some sense. PayPal operates roughly 439 million active user accounts, moves hundreds of billions of dollars in payments each year, and owns Venmo and PYUSD, as well as an important Buy Now Pay Later business. In a deal with PayPal, Stripe would gain access to PayPal’s consumer userbase and its stablecoin system. 

Under the terms of the proposal, PayPal’s PYUSD stablecoin and cryptocurrency services will be rolled into Stripe’s Tempo and Bridge stablecoin payment systems. The two firms, in a way, will work together with stablecoin issuance and distribution. 

Advent, which since 2008 has invested more than $7.8 billion in 18 fintech companies, is well-versed in payments businesses. The offer price is $60.50, and a low over the last 52 weeks for PayPal stock is $38.46. Its price Tuesday ended at $47.37.

Why PayPal’s Board May Not Accept Immediately — And What Happens Next

PayPal’s board is not moving on the offer. That’s to be expected at this stage. The board's first move will be to decide if $60.50 is what's needed for good value to shareholders or if it's way too low relative to the longer-term value at the present moment. PayPal was as high as $78.22 a share over the last year, and was trading at over $100 a while back. So a board that's okay with $60.50 when it was $78 twelve months ago better be able to defend that as good value. The board is also almost sure to appoint independent advisors on the valuation question before offering a formal reply.

The July 28 Q2 2026 report will add a dimension. PayPal guided Q2 to low single-digit revenue growth, low single-digit drop in transaction margin dollars, and high single-digit drop in non-GAAP adjusted EPS. If Q2 comes in better than that low guidance, or CEO Enrique Lores comes up with an even better and more believable recovery plan, it may be possible for the board to argue that the independent value is above $60.50. But if Q2 confirms the guidance or misses the low targets, then $60.50 is much harder to reject. 

The price of $60.50 represents a good premium over where Goldman Sachs was selling the stock last Wednesday ($48), and $60.50 is also a good premium to the mean target price ($51.38) as of the time the deal was announced. The board will likely figure out where it needs to stand as to value over the week or two coming.

PYPL Technical Setup — Gap at $52.22, RSI 89, Key Levels After the Surge

Looking at the 4H chart, PYPL is gapping at ~$52.22 from its pre-market open to $53.11 and then spiking to a $57.74 high before settling at ~$57.16. A RSI of ~89 is way overbought, meaning that in most cases we'll see the first-day run be slower, and some of it is likely to be given back before any followthrough move. $52.22, the level from which it was gapping, will be the key support to watch. 

PayPal (PYPL) Stock Forecast Price Chart - Source: Tradingview

Most acquisition gaps will fill at least partially before resuming. As long as the stock remains above $52.22, technical bias would suggest the next target is to test $59.66, followed by $61.66. And because the bid price sits just about midway between those two, the market is pricing in a significant, albeit not certain probability that it may indeed be the final price for the acquisition. A deal breakdown would likely take us back to ~$47 pre-announcement territory.

• Offer price: $60.50 per share, a 28% premium to Tuesday’s close at $47.37
• Deal size: More than $53 billion
• Offer funding: $50B in committed bank financing
• Who’s involved: Stripe (worth ~$159B) + Advent International
• Proposed structure: 50 / 50 ownership
• Board has not accepted, and is looking at its options. No comments from anyone
• Gap support: $52.22, this remains the key level to keep the bias on the buy-side
• Resistance: $59.66 then $61.66. The bid sits just about halfway between the two

Who Is Offering to Buy PayPal and at What Price?

In July 2026, the private equity-backed payments processor Stripe, with a valuation in excess of $159 billion, together with Advent International, a private equity firm that has $26 billion under management for its 2026 buyout fund, offered to buy PayPal at $60.50 per share for a total transaction value in excess of $53 billion. The offer represents a premium of 28% over the Tuesday closing price of $47.37, and has already attracted $50 billion in bank financing. Under the proposed transaction, both Stripe and Advent would own 50% of PayPal with no plan to split the company into multiple entities.

Why Has PayPal’s Board Not Accepted the Offer?

The PayPal board has not yet accepted the offer, or responded, to the proposal as it does normally to review a bid on its own before deciding. The PayPal board will decide to evaluate if $60.50/share is a good price to pay its shareholders with its independent advisors and financial experts. The stock traded as high as $78.22 in the past year, which means the board has to be sure that the value at $60.50/share is worth paying, as it may be the best offer it ever receives.

PayPal will report its Q2 earnings on July 28, which is the main thing the board will look for before taking a decision. If the results exceed conservative guidance from management, then the board would have more reasons to believe that PayPal has more potential as a stand-alone company, and therefore can argue for a higher price.

What Happens to PYPL Stock If the Deal Falls Through?

If PayPal rejects the offer or negotiations fall through, the stock price would likely revert to pre-deal range of $45 to $48, the range in which it was trading before the Reuters report. The first price target for retracement would be the gap between $52.22 and $57.74.

Goldman Sachs has a target price of $48 and the consensus analyst target is $51.38, both of which represent the lowest valuation that analysts see on a stand-alone basis without a deal. If another bidder shows up with a higher offer price, the stock price could rally above $60.50. In the short run, the price of the stock is expected to move in a trading range between $55 and $60 while the board is deliberating the offer before the Q2 earnings on July 28.

Bottom Line

On July 15, PayPal shares rallied 21% to $57.16 after Reuters reported that Stripe and Advent had offered $60.50/share, a 28% premium backed by $50 billion in bank debt financing. The board of PayPal has not yet accepted, as it is now reviewing its options.

Q2 earnings due July 28 will determine if the $60.50/share offer looks generous enough or is low-ball. After the gap, the RSI is near 89, well overbought at this level. The $52.22 level is the main support, above which targets are $59.66 and $61.66 which sandwich the $60.50 offer. The deal rejection would result in the stock reverting close to $47 again.