PayPal Shares Slide On Weak Outlook, CEO Exit

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) got hit hard Tuesday, with shares sliding about 16% in premarket trading after a rough earnings update that mixed weak guidance, a Q4 miss, and an unexpected CEO change.

The fintech came up short on both earnings and revenue in the fourth quarter, then followed with a cautious outlook for 2026 that clearly disappointed the market. PayPal said it expects non-GAAP EPS next year to be flat to down in the low single digits, compared with $5.31 in 2025 and well below the $5.73 analysts were expecting. First-quarter guidance also missed, with EPS projected to fall mid-single digits from last year.

Leadership turmoil added fuel to the selloff. The board replaced CEO Alex Chriss after just two and a half years, naming HP Inc. veteran Enrique Lores as the new president and CEO starting March 1. Interim CEO Jamie Miller didn’t sugarcoat the challenges, admitting execution has not been where it needs to be, especially in branded checkout.

Operationally, the picture wasn’t comforting. Q4 EPS came in at $1.23 versus a $1.29 estimate, revenue missed at $8.68 billion, and costs ran higher than expected. Total payment volume beat forecasts, but transaction growth slowed sharply, raising fresh concerns about user engagement.