In a surprise, e-commerce firm PayPal Holdings on Monday said it has picked a long-time Intuit business manager as its new chief executive. PYPL stock rose on light trading volume on the news.
The new PayPal CEO will be will be Alex Chriss, president and general manager of Intuit's small business and self-employed group.
Current PayPal CEO Dan Schulman will continue to serve on the PayPal board of directors through May 2024 after he exits as CEO. Chriss will take over as PayPal CEO on Sept. 27.
"While some may have a cautious view given Alex's experience in software as opposed to payments, we believe the appointment of an external candidate will come as a relief for others," Wolfe Research analyst Darrin Peller said in a note to clients.
"We believe Alex's experience in the SMB (small- and medium-sized businesses) space dovetails with PayPal's strategy to expand its presence down market on the unbranded processing side of the business," Peller went on to say.
Meanwhile, Intuit named Marianna Tessel as Chriss' replacement.
In his note to clients, CFRA Research analyst Alexander Yokum said Intuit's small business and self-employed group generates more than half of the firm's revenue. He added that Chriss led Intuit's $12 billion acquisition of Mailchimp.
On the stock market today, PYPL stock rose 2.8% to close at 63.27.
PYPL Stock Falls In 2023
Amid the wait for a new CEO, PayPal stock has dropped 13% thus far in 2023. PYPL stock has retreated from an all-time high of 310.16 on July 26, 2021.
Meanwhile, shares hold a Relative Strength Rating of only 15 out of a best-possible 99, according to IBD Stock Checkup.
Some analysts had speculated Pinterest CEO Bill Ready was a possible successor to Schulman. Ready served as chief operating officer of PayPal from 2013 to 2019. He took that role after PayPal acquired Braintree in 2013, where he was CEO.
PayPal reported June-quarter earnings of $1.16 a share, up nearly 24% from a year earlier. The digital payments company said revenue climbed 7% to $7.3 billion.
PYPL stock analysts expected earnings of $1.15 a share on revenue of $7.27 billion.
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