Block Inc (NYSE: SQ) shares are up 25% this morning on promising outlook for the Cash App. Formerly known as Square, the digital payments company also reported better-than-expected Q4 revenue last night.
Block’s guidance for the future
Block expects its gross profit from the Cash App to jump 21% YoY in January and February. The financial services firm expects both its business (Cash App and Square Seller) to grow sequentially in each quarter this year and forecasts gross-profit growth rate to be stronger in the back half of 2022.
The upbeat guidance saw Susquehanna’s James Friedman reiterate his “buy” rating on Block. The analyst wrote:
Fears that Cash App users would not outlast stimulus checks seem to have been overblown as users and engagement metrics look strong.
Friedman slashed his price target to $240 but that still represents an over 100% upside from here. Bernstein’s Rawat and SMBC’s Bauch were among other analysts that reiterated their top ratings on the stock after the earnings call.
Important figures in Block’s Q4 results
Net loss came in at $76.8 million versus $294 million in earnings a year-ago.
Per-share loss stood at 17 cents, a decline from 59 cents of earnings in the same quarter last year.
At $4.08 billion, revenue was up 29% on a year-over-year basis.
FactSet consensus was for $4.04 billion in revenue in the recent quarter.
Revenue from transactions and services was up 41% and 72%, respectively.
Gross profit from Cash App and Square Seller handily topped expectations.
Cash App had 44 million active transacting users in December. Block’s gross payment volume at $46.3 billion was in line with the FactSet consensus. Last month, Wolfe Research’s Darrin Peller said fintech could outperform in 2022.
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