Look, I get it. PayPal isn’t exactly the cool kid at the fintech party anymore. While everyone’s obsessing over AI stocks and crypto moonshots, good old PYPL is sitting in the corner like that reliable friend who always pays their share of the dinner bill – underappreciated but solid as a rock.
Here’s the thing though: sometimes the best opportunities hide in plain sight, especially when everyone else is chasing shiny objects.
The Numbers Don’t Lie (Even When They’re Ugly)
PayPal’s stock is trading at a P/E ratio of around 13 – that’s basically the financial equivalent of finding designer jeans at a thrift store. For context, this is the lowest valuation the company has seen since it went public in 2015. We’re talking about a company that processes billions in payments getting priced like it’s about to sell pencils on street corners.
The forward P/E is even more ridiculous at around 11. And here’s where it gets spicy – the PEG ratio (that’s price-to-earnings-to-growth for those keeping score at home) is sitting at 0.66. Anything below 1.0 means “hey, this might be undervalued,” and 0.66 is basically the market screaming “SALE!” in all caps.
Why Everyone’s Given Up on PayPal
Fair warning: this stock has been about as popular as a root canal lately. Shares are down 25% this year, and if you zoom out to five years, it’s been a proper disaster movie – we’re talking -19% annualized returns. Ouch.
The company went through that classic corporate drama of switching CEOs, and new guy Alex Chriss has been trying to get the ship pointed in the right direction. But you know how Wall Street is – patience isn’t exactly their strong suit.
Plot Twist: Things Might Actually Be Turning Around
Here’s where it gets interesting. In their latest earnings report, PayPal actually raised their guidance for the year. They’re expecting more users and higher payment volumes – you know, those boring fundamentals that actually matter.
Plus, they’re rolling out something called “Agentic Commerce” (fancy name, I know) that uses AI chatbots to make PayPal transactions smoother. It’s like having a digital assistant that actually knows what it’s doing, which is more than I can say for most AI these days.
The Smart Money is Paying Attention
Several analysts recently bumped up their price targets after the earnings release. The median target is $80 per share – that’s about 24% higher than where it’s trading now. Not exactly lottery ticket returns, but hey, in this market, I’ll take “boring but profitable” over “exciting but broke” any day.
Look, PayPal isn’t going to make you rich overnight. But sometimes the best investments are the ones everyone else has forgotten about. While the market’s busy chasing the next big thing, you might just find your golden ticket hiding in the discount bin.