A recent, sharp decline in PayPal Holdings Inc.’s (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock price has reportedly caught the attention of potential buyers looking for a bargain. According to Bloomberg, the payment giant has fielded unsolicited takeover interest, prompting the company to open discussions with banks to weigh its options. At least one direct competitor is exploring an outright acquisition of the entire company, while other interested parties are eyeing specific chunks of PayPal’s diverse asset portfolio. PayPal management has kept quiet, declining to comment on the swirling market rumors.

Breaking Down the Pieces

This sudden M&A chatter brings PayPal’s underlying value into sharp focus. Bernstein SocGen Group recently reaffirmed a “Market Perform” rating on the stock with a $45.00 price target, and analyst Harshita Rawat pointed out that a sum-of-the-parts valuation looks increasingly relevant at current trading levels. Based on recent market data, Bernstein pegs the Braintree division somewhere between $10 billion and $15 billion. Venmo is valued at roughly $5 billion, while PayPal’s core operations—encompassing its lending and “Buy Now, Pay Later” segments—could be worth $20 billion to $25 billion alone. The math is starting to make sense to value hunters. The stock took a massive 37% hit over the last six months, pushing its P/E ratio down to a mere 8.09 alongside a PEG ratio of 0.22. Analytical platforms like InvestingPro are now flagging the stock as heavily undervalued. Taking a slightly different angle, Wolfe Research kept a “Peerperform” rating on the stock, noting it trades at roughly seven times its estimated 2027 earnings per share. Mizuho remains distinctly more bullish, maintaining an “Outperform” rating with a $60 target despite the broader market noise.

A Massive Digital Footprint

Any potential buyer would be swallowing a massive operation. PayPal currently boasts 231 million monthly active users globally. Venmo accounts for 67 million of those users, meaning that specific app reaches roughly 20% of the entire US population. The company maintains a grip on about 90% of online merchants and processes a staggering $1.8 trillion in transaction volume every year. News of the potential buyout didn’t just move PayPal stock; it sent immediate ripples across the broader fintech sector, helping companies like Affirm Holdings and Block trim their recent market losses as investors speculated on further industry consolidation.

Expanding Through The OLB Group

Despite the acquisition rumors, PayPal is clearly still executing its daily playbook and expanding its reach. The company just locked in a major strategic partnership with The OLB Group Inc. Under the new agreement, OLB will integrate PayPal’s comprehensive checkout services, including Venmo, directly into its merchant platforms. OLB operates as a diversified fintech and e-commerce merchant services provider, alongside a secondary Bitcoin crypto mining enterprise. Its primary fintech segment offers cloud-based business management, payment gateways, virtual terminals, and crowdfunding solutions for brick-and-mortar and online retailers across the United States. Investors reacted positively to the tie-up. Shares of The OLB Group enjoyed a solid bump, closing up 6.23% at $0.8101 on February 25, though the stock gave back some of those gains in after-hours trading, slipping roughly 4.95% to $0.77.