PYPL Stock In Focus: CEO Reveals Business Model Shift With Venmo, Braintree Growth, $1.5B Cost Savings

Enrique Lores outlined the company’s shifting strategy going forward at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026.

• Lores said that while the company has so far been relying on branded checkout as the source of profit, it is now looking at rebalancing that towards greater growth from its portfolio of financial services. 
• Lores also highlighted the importance of Venmo as a financial growth driver, noting that PayPal has a “clear direction to grow Venmo” to make it more relevant to consumers financially.
• The CEO emphasized that the company’s $1.5 billion target in gross run-rate savings will come from simplifying the organizational structure, streamlining the product portfolio and go-to-market activities, and expanding automation and AI.

PayPal Holdings Inc. (PYPL) was on retail traders’ radar on Wednesday after CEO Enrique Lores outlined the company’s shifting strategy going forward at the Goldman Sachs Communacopia + Technology Conference 2026.

Lores said the company would focus its shift in business model from branded checkout to growing across the financial services spectrum, emphasized growth in Venmo and Braintree, and revealed how PayPal would achieve its gross run-rate cost savings of $1.5 billion over the next two to three years.

PayPal’s Shift To Growing Financial Services Spectrum 

PayPal’s CEO said that while the company has so far been relying on branded checkout as the source of profit, it is now looking at rebalancing that. 

Lores said that growing weakness in the European market has changed expectations for branded checkout’s Total Payment Volume (TPV) to be between 1% and 2% in the third quarter.

Instead, the company sees “a big opportunity across the full portfolio in financial services and expanding into this space,” he said. 

This would include an increased focus on high-value customers, and offering varied products and programs with more opportunity to accelerate the growth. PayPal is focused on driving safety, trust, and flexibility. Lores also emphasized a growing focus on Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) services and launching loyalty programs. 

“And this means that our focus in the future is going to shift from trying to get new customers to the platform to really maximize the value that we get from high-value customers or in additional financial services like BNPL and use this as a key metric that we will be looking at going forward and that we should be using to measure the success of the business,” he said. 

Venmo Growth At PayPal

Lores also highlighted the importance of Venmo as a financial growth driver, noting that PayPal has a “clear direction to grow Venmo” to make it more relevant to consumers financially.

The conversation highlighted that Venmo has delivered seven consecutive quarters of double-digit TPV growth, with revenue crossing $1.7 billion in 2025, growing roughly 20%. 

Apart from payments, and offerings in credit and debit cards, Lores sees “a tremendous opportunity to maintain the growth” in Venmo, while offering more value to customers, and increasing the average revenue per user, to drive expansion and growth. 

“And a lot of the products that we will be offering for them eventually will be offered also in PayPal. So we will be expanding both businesses in a similar direction,” he said. 

“We're also very pleased with the progress we have made on Pay with Venmo, expanding that to more merchants. It's another great opportunity that we have. And these two in the short term are the ones that will be driving growth for the business,” Lores added. 

PayPal’s Cost-Saving Plan

Lores emphasized that the company’s $1.5 billion target in gross run-rate savings over the next two to three years will come from simplifying the organizational structure, streamlining the product portfolio and go-to-market activities, and expanding automation and AI.

The CEO said that these will be reinvested in areas of growth including expansion of financial services such as the BNPL portfolio, addressing high-value customers’ requirements, and modernizing its technology stack. 

Simultaneously, Lores reiterated the company’s double-digit earnings per share (EPS) growth as an important goal for the company.

In its latest earnings report, PayPal raised its full-year guidance for adjusted EPS to about $5.38 per share, up from $5.31 per share in 2025. 

PayPal’s Recent Buyout Buzz

Lores’ outlined turnaround strategy comes amid media reports of a recent buyout offer from Stripe and private equity firm Advent International, which offered $60.50 per share in cash, valuing the company at over $53 billion. However, the firms reportedly abandoned their pursuit of the fintech company in late August after PayPal’s board did not respond positively to the offer, viewing the bid as inadequate.

PYPL Stock: Retail Stance

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around PYPL stock was ‘bearish’ at the time of writing. 

One user said, “$PYPL complete dump- worthless in 5 years as a platform.”

However, another bullish user said, “$PYPL PayPal doesn't require explosive revenue growth to get there. Imagine Lores gets revenue growing around 5–7%, improves margins, keeps aggressively retiring shares with PayPal's cash generation, and restores investor confidence. If that gets PYPL to roughly $10 EPS by 2030 and investors are willing to pay only 15× earnings: $10 × 15 = $150.” 

The user added that the biggest differentiator for PayPal would be its potential avenues for structural growth, including Venmo, branded checkout, BNPL, debit, merchant services and broader financial services. 

PYPL stock is down more than 10% so far in 2026. 

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