Stock Market Today, Aug. 28: PayPal Falls 13% After Stripe and Advent Abandon $50B Takeover

PayPal Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) experienced a 12.71 percent drop on Friday, closing at $53.66 per share, after private equity firm Advent and payment processor Stripe withdrew their $53 billion takeover bid for the digital payments platform. According to a Bloomberg report, the consortium officially abandoned the acquisition plans.

The bid, which would have granted equal ownership to Stripe and Advent, was reportedly made at $60.50 per share, a 27.7 percent premium over PayPal's $47.37 closing price the day before the report. The acquisition announcement came amid declining investor confidence in PayPal, which has seen its stock value plummet by 23.41 percent over the past year and 81 percent over the past five years.

Amidst increasing competition in the digital payments industry, PayPal's net income fell by 11 percent in the second quarter, with GAAP net revenues growing by 5 percent to $8.682 billion. Despite the earnings report, the company approved a $0.14 dividend per share for shareholders on record as of September 4, 2026. Following the news of the bid withdrawal, investment firms Mizuho Securities and Loop Capital adjusted their price targets for PayPal's stock, lowering them to $51 and $50 respectively, while maintaining neutral and hold recommendations.

In the second quarter, 60 hedge funds held positions in PayPal, down from 76 in the previous quarter, indicating a shift towards more selective institutional sentiment. The small decline in aggregate holdings suggests that some funds are reducing or exiting positions, while others remain bullish on the stock's potential.