Analysts say Stripe's acquisition of PayPal could help it expand into the consumer market

On February 26, Mizuho analysts stated that if payment company Stripe proceeds with a potential acquisition deal for PayPal, it would help Stripe expand from traditional merchant payment services into the consumer market. Stripe's latest valuation is approximately $159 billion, higher than PayPal's market capitalization of about $43 billion. Analysts pointed out that PayPal's large user base and its Venmo app would provide Stripe with consumer-side brand and user network support. In addition, PayPal's Braintree merchant payment infrastructure could enhance Stripe's competitiveness in the payment processing market. Braintree could contribute around $700 billion in total payment volume (TPV), while Stripe's current annual TPV is about $1.4 trillion.