These 5 Companies Recently Announced Layoffs, Hiring Freeze Amid Recession Fears

1. PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 100

PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) is an American fintech firm that enables digital transactions worldwide. In an effort to scale costs, PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) closed down its San Francisco office, consequently firing 83 employees. The company is also relocating 131 Irish employees and is providing them the option to resign voluntarily. 

On June 6, Wedbush analyst Moshe Katri maintained an Outperform rating and a $110 price target on PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) stock, indicating a bottoming of ecommerce normalization patterns, realistic FY22 guidance, and the belief that monetizing PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL)’s two-side platform is yet in its infancy. The analyst likes the stock at present levels as a contrarian “play” due to the pessimistic investor sentiment paired with an attractive valuation.

Among the hedge funds tracked by Insider Monkey, 100 funds reported long positions in PayPal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) at the end of March 2022, compared to 110 funds in the prior quarter. Terry Smith’s Fundsmith LLP is one of the leading position holders in the company, with a stake worth $1.2 billion. 

Here is what Aristotle Capital Management Small Cap Equity has to say about Paypal Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:PYPL) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“We sold our position in PayPal due to the uncertain twelve-month horizon the company faces due to market headwinds from inflation and supply chain issues impacting e-commerce. On a more fundamental level, we sold due to the seismic shift in strategy and our disappointment with management credibility. The company reported weak 2022 guidance, and a strategic shift announced on the fourth quarter 2021 earnings call. The global payments space is undergoing a massive transition due to new technology introduced by both private and new Initial Public Offerings prospects, and we believe that the significant amount of private capital underwriting the new technology will continue to pressure incumbent players, even those as large and seemingly in the sweet spot of e-commerce payments, as PayPal currently is.”

You can also take a look at 10 Best Recession Stocks To Buy and 10 Best Undervalued Dividend Stocks To Buy. 

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