PayPal shares fell as much as 16% on Friday after Advent International and Stripe abandoned their pursuit of the payments company.
The stock traded around $53.74 shortly after the opening bell, against Thursday's close of $61.47.
Advent, a private equity firm, and Stripe, the privately held payments processor, had offered $60.50 a share in mid-July, valuing PayPal at about $53 billion.
The board judged that inadequate and pointed to potential regulatory and financing obstacles, and the two sides never bridged the gap on price.
A premium that has now gone
The shares had climbed almost 30% since news of the approach emerged, leaving PayPal's market value at roughly $53 billion on Thursday, close to the offer on the table.
Friday's fall removes the deal premium and returns attention to a turnaround investors have yet to endorse.
PayPal trades on a forward price to earnings ratio of about 10.85, against an industry median near 15.
Far from the peak
At the height of the pandemic e-commerce boom in 2021, PayPal was worth roughly $360 billion.
Growth slowed sharply as shoppers returned to physical stores, while Apple Pay and Google Pay took share in mobile payments.
Enrique Lores, who left the top job at HP to become chief executive on 1 March, has responded with cost cuts, partnerships built around AI-driven commerce, expansion of the PYUSD stablecoin and a push into broader banking services.
Last month the company raised its 2026 profit forecast, reporting second-quarter revenue of $8.7 billion and total payment volume of $486.4 billion.
On the earnings call, Lores declined to address the takeover reports but said PayPal would weigh any option capable of creating superior value for shareholders.
Was the board right?
Troy Hooper, co-head of equity capital markets in the United States at Mergermarket, said PayPal had a credible case that $53 billion did not fully reflect its platform, brand and user base.
He added that sustaining that argument would require management to show the turnaround translating into stronger growth and earnings.
Advent, PayPal and Stripe declined to comment.
