PayPal Stock Crashes 14% Post-Earnings as Execs Dump Shares—Timing or Trouble?
PayPal's Q3 bloodbath: Shares tank 14% after earnings as C-suite cashes out.
Wall Street's favorite question: Did insiders see this coming, or just exercising 'strategic diversification'? (Spoiler: They always do.)
Meanwhile, crypto-native payment rails keep eating PayPal's lunch—no executives needed for those 24/7 settlements.
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Investors are now parsing a string of insider transactions that arrived just as the post-earnings drift gathered pace. This has raised new queries about confidence inside the C-suite.
Insider Sales Add to Post-Earnings Pressure
Regulatory filings show several PayPal leaders trimming positions in recent weeks. Chief accounting officer Chris Natali sold 1,374 shares on Oct. 30 at an average price of $69.13, bringing in nearly $95,000. The filing said Natali held no PayPal shares directly after the sale.
A few days later, Suzan Kereere, president of global markets, sold 10,000 shares at an average of $68.85 and another 2,500 shares at $68.96 on Nov. 3. These trades totaled about $860,900 and left her with 30,983 shares, worth roughly $1.9 million at Friday’s close of $62.81.
There was more activity the following week. Global chief risk officer Aaron Webster disclosed three sales on Nov. 10 totaling 9,282 shares for proceeds of about $615,309. He still directly owns 35,699 shares, valued at more than $2.2 million at the same closing price.
PayPal has not commented on the individual transactions. Insider sales do not automatically signal trouble, since they can reflect tax planning or portfolio diversification. The timing so soon after earnings, however, adds another data point for investors already watching the stock’s slide.
Alex Chriss Pushes Turnaround While Shares Lag
Since taking over as CEO in 2023, Alex Chriss has tried to reset expectations around PayPal’s business model. His strategy centers on slimming down lower-margin, unbranded operations and focusing on higher-return Core services where the PayPal name still carries weight with merchants and consumers.
Recent earnings reports have been solid on paper, yet the stock reaction has stayed negative. Investors want to see faster improvement in key measures such as online branded checkout growth and evidence that PayPal can defend pricing against rivals.
The gap between market hopes and current performance remains wide. PayPal once commanded a premium multiple when shares hit a record closing high of $308.53 in July 2021. At around $63 today, the company is still fighting to convince the market that its next phase of growth can justify anything close to those old valuations.
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