PayPal Taps HP’s Enrique Lores As New CEO Amid Tumult

On February 3, 2026, PayPal sent shockwaves through the financial technology world by announcing that Enrique Lores, the long-serving CEO of HP Inc. and current chair of PayPal’s board, would step in as its next chief executive and president. This leadership shake-up arrives at a pivotal moment for PayPal, as the company faces mounting pressure from investors, a disappointing earnings report, and fierce competition in the digital payments industry.

Lores’ appointment will officially take effect on March 1, after he steps down from his post at HP. In the interim, Jamie Miller, PayPal’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, will assume the role of interim CEO. The move comes as Alex Chriss, who joined PayPal as CEO in September 2023 after a stint at Intuit, departs the company. According to PayPal, the decision to replace Chriss was prompted by the company’s pace of change and execution falling short of the board’s expectations, especially in light of shifting market dynamics and consumer behaviors.

The context for this executive turnover is anything but rosy. On the same day as the announcement, PayPal reported lower-than-expected revenue and profit for the fourth quarter of 2025. Net revenue for the quarter was $8.67 billion, up 4% from the previous year, and full-year revenue reached $33.2 billion, also a 4% increase. Earnings per share for the quarter were $1.23, a modest 3% rise year-over-year, and $5.31 for the full year, up 14% from 2024. Yet, these numbers missed analyst expectations: S&P Capital IQ had projected $1.29 EPS for the quarter and $5.36 for the year, along with higher revenue targets. PayPal’s results also fell short of its own October projections.

Perhaps more troubling for investors, PayPal forecasted that its adjusted profit for 2026 would either decline by a low-single-digit percentage or, at best, increase only slightly. This guidance surprised Wall Street, which had been anticipating growth, and sent PayPal’s shares tumbling by about 17.9% in premarket trading. As JPMorganChase observed in a research note, "The results add fuel to the bear thesis that PayPal will struggle to maintain share in the market."

One of the central issues facing PayPal is the underperformance of its branded checkout business—a key metric that accounts for about half of the company’s profits. In the fourth quarter, branded checkout grew by just 1%, a steep drop from the 5% growth seen in the previous quarter. Historically, this segment had delivered mid-single-digit growth, so the four-point deceleration was an unwelcome surprise. Jamie Miller, speaking during the earnings call, attributed the slowdown to several factors: "The challenges in the macro environment are real, we haven't executed as well as we need to and product deployment was slower than we had planned." She pointed to broader weakness in the retail sector, international pressures (particularly in Germany, PayPal’s largest non-U.S. market), and operational issues as contributing factors.

PayPal’s struggles are not unique in a world where consumers are feeling the pinch from a cost of living crisis and a softening labor market. Miller described the current climate as a "K-shaped economy"—one where lower- to mid-income consumers, who make up the core of PayPal’s customer base, are under particular stress. Yet, investors are keenly focused on whether PayPal can turn around its branded checkout performance, especially as its stock has fallen more than 40% over the past year.

Under Alex Chriss, PayPal leaned heavily on artificial intelligence and payment technology improvements to enhance the user experience and attract merchants. Initiatives included investments in biometric authentication, loyalty marketing, and buy now/pay later messaging. PayPal also forged partnerships to integrate its wallet with AI tools, such as ChatGPT Checkout and OpenAI’s Instant Checkout, aiming to stay at the forefront of digital commerce. However, as Miller acknowledged, "We had reimagined a product that had been stagnant for years but we were too optimistic about how quickly we could drive change and user adoption. But the results are not what we expected and we're not where we want to be."

It is against this backdrop that Enrique Lores steps in. Lores brings a formidable track record from HP, where he served as president and CEO since 2019, after joining the company 36 years ago as an engineering intern. At HP, Lores was the architect of the "Future Ready" plan, which included workforce reductions and investments in key growth areas like artificial intelligence. He spearheaded major acquisitions—such as Poly, Teradici, and HyperX—and steered the company through global supply chain shocks, including the COVID-19 pandemic and recent memory shortages. Lores also successfully defended HP against a hostile takeover attempt by Xerox in 2020. His leadership style, focused on technology-driven transformation and operational discipline, is widely credited with positioning HP as a leader in the evolving "future of work."

In his statement on the PayPal appointment, Lores was clear about the challenges and opportunities ahead: "The payments industry is changing faster than ever, driven by new technologies, evolving regulations, an increasingly competitive landscape, and the rapid acceleration of AI that is reshaping commerce daily. PayPal sits at the center of this change, and I look forward to leading the team to accelerate the delivery of new innovations and to shape the future of digital payments and commerce." He further emphasized accountability, stating, "We will further strengthen the culture of innovation necessary to deliver long-term transformation and balance this with near-term delivery, executing with greater speed and precision, and holding ourselves accountable for consistent delivery quarter on quarter, to further assert PayPal's industry leadership position."

PayPal’s board appears confident that Lores is the right leader for this moment. David Dorman, the newly appointed board chair, remarked, "While some progress has been made in a number of areas over the last two years, the pace of change and execution was not in line with the Board's expectations." Miller echoed this sentiment, noting that Lores’ deep experience and familiarity with PayPal—having served on its board for five years and as chair for 18 months—should help him hit the ground running. "Having been on our board for five years, Enrique brings a level of depth and context which should shorten the typical cycle of having a new CEO coming on board. He has led with a customer-first mindset and made progress in modernizing the PayPal platform," Miller said.

As for HP, the company moved swiftly to name Bruce Broussard, a board member since 2021 and a seasoned healthcare executive, as interim CEO. HP reaffirmed its outlook for the first quarter of 2026 and the full fiscal year, signaling confidence in its ongoing strategy despite the leadership transition. In a heartfelt note on LinkedIn, Lores reflected on his 36-year journey at HP, writing, "Since then, HP has been woven into my identity and my family story—my wife Rocio and I built our life in Palo Alto so I could be part of the HP team, and my three sons have only ever known life with HP."

With PayPal at a crossroads, all eyes are now on Lores to see if his blend of technological savvy, operational rigor, and transformative vision can reinvigorate the payments giant and restore investor confidence. The stakes couldn’t be higher, and the next chapter for both PayPal and HP promises to be one to watch closely.