PayPal Bets on Agentic Payments as 2028 Growth Option

IndustryProduct / Tech
โดย Zacks Investment Research·US·Read original
Summary · why it matters

PayPal is positioning agentic payments as a long-term growth opportunity, with management expecting the technology to become increasingly meaningful from 2028 onward, though it is not expected to materially contribute to near-term results. The company believes agentic payments can help it monetize its established wallet, merchant infrastructure, identity, risk capabilities and two-sided network, but has not provided specific revenue or transaction forecasts for the business. PayPal's existing scale backs the opportunity: in the second quarter of 2026, total payment volume reached $486.4 billion, payment transactions came in at 6.75 billion, and active accounts stood at 439 million. Agentic payments are not PayPal's primary near-term growth driver, as financial services, Venmo, Braintree and improved checkout execution remain more immediate priorities amid subdued branded checkout growth. Competitors are moving too, with Visa building Visa Intelligent Commerce and partnering with OpenAI in June 2026, and Mastercard advancing Mastercard Agent Pay and expanding it with Agent Pay for Machines in June 2026. PayPal shares have gained 26.5% over the past three months, and the stock trades at a forward 12-month P/E of 9.46X versus the Zacks Financial Transaction Services industry's 17.70X.

Impact on stocks 4

Digital Finance & Tokenization▲ · 3 stocks
PayPal Holdings Inc
PYPL
▲ PositiveTechnologyrelevance

PayPal is positioning agentic payments as a long-term growth option from 2028, leveraging its wallet, merchant infrastructure, identity, risk and two-sided network.

Mastercard Inc
MA
± MixedCompetitionrelevance

Mastercard is advancing Mastercard Agent Pay and expanding it with Agent Pay for Machines, a rival agentic-payments effort to PayPal's.

Visa Inc. Class A
V
± MixedCompetitionrelevance

Visa is building Visa Intelligent Commerce and partnered with OpenAI, a competing agentic-payments initiative to PayPal's.

Others▲ · 1 stocks

Theme Impact 2

Off-coverage companies 1

OpenAIPrivate± Mixed
Competitionrelevance

OpenAI is named only as Visa's partner in June 2026 for agentic commerce, not as a PayPal development.

Related news

▲

Palantir $5,000 Stake Modeled at $4,629 to $8,161 by 2031

A $5,000 investment in Palantir Technologies could be worth between $4,629 and $8,161.50 by 2031 under a five-year scenario model built on current data. The base case projects shares at $217.44 for a 23.62% total return and a stake of about $6,181, the bull case targets $287.10 for a 63.23% return and $8,161.50, and the bear case puts the stock at $162.84 for a 7.42% loss and $4,629. Palantir posted second-quarter 2026 revenue of $1.935 billion, up 92.83% year-over-year, with a Rule of 40 score of 155 and adjusted free cash flow of $1.22 billion at a 63% margin, and management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $8.150 to $8.158 billion. Total remaining deal value reached $13.1 billion, up 83%, net dollar retention expanded to 157%, and CEO Alex Karp said demand for AI sovereignty has been unleashed. The stock trades near $175.91 at a P/E of roughly 250 and a beta of 1.621, and the model carries a 0.9 confidence score with a hold recommendation.
PLTR ▲
Artificial Intelligence ▲
Yahoo Finance·1hRead more →

Digital Realty Launches ServiceFabric MCP Across 800 Data Centers

Digital Realty made ServiceFabric MCP available on September 15, a software layer that lets AI agents design, monitor and troubleshoot network connections across more than 800 data centers, including third-party sites. The launch follows second quarter results reported on July 23, when Core FFO per share, excluding net promote, rose to $2.13 from $1.87 a year earlier, while the headline figure of $2.65 included a $188 million net promote. Renewal leases in the quarter were signed at rates 25.4% higher on a cash basis, and signed leases waiting to start added up to a $1.9 billion backlog of annualized base rent at 100% share. Management lifted its 2026 Core FFO per share outlook, excluding net promote, to $8.15 to $8.20, even as the company carried about $18.6 billion of debt at June 30, 2026 and set its 2026 development spending outlook, net of partner contributions, at $4.25 billion to $4.75 billion. Digital Realty calls MCP an emerging standard still being validated, and the announcement puts no dollar figure on what it could add to revenue.
601828.CGDLR
Cloud & Digital Infrastructure ▲Artificial Intelligence ▲
Insider Monkey·3hRead more →
▲

Meta Acquires AI Startup Stilla.ai to Bolster Business Agent

Meta Platforms acquired AI startup Stilla.ai on September 9, a move aimed at strengthening its agentic AI capabilities and opening new monetization beyond advertising. The company plans to integrate Stilla.ai's team and technology into Meta Business Agent, which helps businesses interact with customers across its platforms. Longer term, Meta envisions customers using AI agents to inquire about products, discuss pricing, and potentially complete purchases without leaving its ecosystem, creating an AI-driven commerce layer across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp. Meta cautioned that Stilla.ai remains a small startup and the deal is unlikely to materially affect revenue or earnings per share in the near term, with infrastructure, product development, and integration needed before meaningful transaction-related revenue emerges. According to the Insider Monkey Database, 254 hedge funds held positions in Meta during the second quarter, down from 262 at the end of the first quarter, while short interest stood at approximately 1.13% of outstanding shares, or roughly 28.81 million shares, as of August 31.
META ▲
Artificial Intelligence ▲
Insider Monkey·6hRead more →
© 2026 MarketDXNews