Yahoo Finance·2026-02-03 13:30Company Moves - PayPal has appointed Enrique Lores, former CEO of HP, as its new chief executive effective February 3, 2026, marking a rare instance of a public company poaching a sitting CEO from another [2][6] - Lores led HP through six consecutive quarters of revenue growth, with Q4 2025 revenue reaching $14.64 billion, surpassing the consensus estimate of $14.06 billion [3][6] Market Performance - Despite Lores' operational successes, HP's stock has declined by 36% over the past year and is currently 11% below its starting point for 2026, indicating a lack of market confidence in HP's future [3] - PayPal's stock has dropped 41% over the past year, even while consistently beating earnings estimates, suggesting that execution alone does not guarantee positive stock performance [4][6] Strategic Challenges - PayPal faces significant challenges in its branded checkout segment, with interim CEO Jamie Miller acknowledging that execution has not met expectations, indicating competitive pressures [4] - The strategic question arises regarding what insights HP's board may have that the market does not, as they release a CEO who achieved operational wins but could not reverse the decline of a legacy hardware business [4] - PayPal is betting that Lores can modernize its business model in fintech, similar to what he could not achieve at HP, with a focus on addressing branded checkout struggles and developing a credible AI-driven payments strategy by mid-2026 [4]