Something's definitely brewing at PayPal Holdings Inc (NASDAQ:PYPL)—and this time, it's not just fintech talk. After a five-day, 11% rally that's pushed shares near $76, traders are revisiting a theory that refuses to die: PayPal could be the hidden payments engine in OpenAI's coming wave of AI-driven shopping experiences.
The catalyst? A new surge of product rollouts and bullish analyst calls just as chatter reignites around PayPal's role in powering agentic commerce—the idea that AI tools like ChatGPT will not just recommend products, but buy them for you.
Read Also: PayPal Expands Honey With AI Shopping Tools To Turn Searches Into Purchases
From Checkout To ChatGPT
The groundwork has been quietly forming. PayPal already underpins key transaction rails for Shopify Inc (NASDAQ:SHOP)—the same Shopify that partnered with OpenAI to enable "Buy in ChatGPT." Add in PayPal's own multi-year AI partnership with Alphabet Inc‘s (NASDAQ:GOOGL) (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google, and the picture starts to look less like coincidence and more like choreography.
If ChatGPT's shopping agent needs dependable global payments plumbing, few companies are better positioned than PayPal, whose newly launched PayPal World platform focuses on seamless, cross-border AI checkout. It's speculative, sure—but investors like the logic.
Chriss' AI Bet Is Paying Off
Since taking over, CEO Alex Chriss has promised to rebuild PayPal around "end-to-end commerce"—infusing every layer of checkout, ads, and payments with AI personalization. His new Ads Manager platform, which lets merchants target customers during checkout, has already given the stock a jolt.
Pair that with the $15 billion buyback and a $7 billion deal with Blue Owl Capital to fund BNPL (buy now pay later) growth, and it's clear Chriss is rewiring the fintech's growth engine.
Investor Takeaway
At $76, PYPL still trades like a legacy fintech—but it's quietly behaving like an AI-commerce sleeper stock. With payment volumes up, guidance raised, and social sentiment turning bullish, PayPal's AI narrative is no longer just a whisper—it's starting to sound like a signal.
Read Next:
Photo: Ink Drop on Shutterstock.com
© 2025 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
