PayPal is leaving the door slightly ajar for a takeover, but only if someone wants to pay more than Stripe's current $53.4 billion offer. On Tuesday's Q2 2026 earnings call, CEO Enrique Lores didn't exactly say "we're not for sale," but he didn't say "we are for sale" either. Instead, he performed the corporate equivalent of a shoulder shrug, saying the company would consider any path that created "superior value" for shareholders.

Translation: Stripe and Advent International's $60.50 per share offer isn't cutting it, especially after PayPal reported better-than-expected results. Adjusted profit came in at $1.38 per share, beating the $1.28 consensus, while revenue rose 5% year-over-year to $8.68 billion, above estimates of $8.47 billion. Adjusted free cash flow of $1.8 billion gives PayPal some breathing room to keep investing in its turnaround.

Financial services firm Cantor values PayPal closer to $70 per share, which is a nice round number that's significantly higher than the current offer. Shares are trading around $58, so there's room for optimism - or negotiation.

Lores didn't directly address Stripe's bid, because that would be too straightforward. But he did leave the door open: "If we see levers or a path that we believe would create superior value for our shareholders than executing our current strategy, we would, of course, carefully consider them." In other words, show us the money - more of it.

PayPal is also busy with its AI-focused turnaround, which involves restructuring into three segments: checkout solutions and PayPal; consumer financial services (including Venmo); and payment services and crypto. The company expects to generate at least $1.5 billion in gross run-rate savings over the next two to three years, remove three organizational layers, and migrate from its data center to the cloud. Because nothing says "we're not for sale" like modernizing your tech stack.

"We believe that executing the transformation strategy I have outlined will create significant value for shareholders. That remains our focus," Lores said, adding, "While there is still significant work ahead, I have strong conviction in our direction and in our ability to execute." So PayPal is either genuinely committed to its turnaround or just trying to drive up the price. Either way, it's a fun game of corporate poker.