Block raises annual profit forecast on resilient consumer spending
Businesses and individuals have continued to spend on essential products, even as they have cut back on discretionary expenses amid macroeconomic uncertainty.
The Jack Dorsey-led firm now expects 2025 gross profit of $10.17 billion, up from the $9.96 billion it forecast earlier.
Its Cash App, which enables peer-to-peer mobile payments, reported a gross profit growth of about 16% in the second quarter ended June 30. This was slower than the 23% growth it reported in the year-ago period.
On an adjusted basis, the company reported net profit of $385 million, or 62 cents per share, in the second quarter, compared with $301 million, or 47 cents per share, in the year-ago period.
Shares of Block have lost nearly 10% in 2025 due to market volatility and a profit forecast cut, significantly underperforming the broader market.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Reuters
10 minutes ago
- Reuters
US licenses Nvidia to export chips to China, official says
Aug 8 (Reuters) - The commerce department has started issuing licenses to Nvidia (NVDA.O), opens new tab to export its H20 chips to China, a U.S. official told Reuters on Friday, removing a significant hurdle to the AI bellwether's access to a key market. The U.S. last month reversed an April ban on the sale of the H20 chip to China. The company had tailored the microprocessor specially to the Chinese market to comply with the Biden-era AI chip export controls. The curbs will slice $8 billion off sales from its July quarter, the chipmaker has warned. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang met with Trump on Wednesday, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters. A spokesperson for Nvidia declined comment. A White House spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The company said in July it was filing applications with the U.S. government to resume sales to China of the H20 graphics processing unit, and had been assured it would get the licenses soon. It is unclear how many licenses may have been issued, which companies Nvidia is allowed to ship the H20s to, and the value of the shipments allowed. Nvidia disclosed in April that it expected a $5.5 billion charge related to the restrictions. In May, Nvidia said the actual first-quarter charge due to the H20 restrictions was $1 billion less than expected because it was able to reuse some materials. The Financial Times first reported Friday's developments. Nvidia said last month that its products have no "backdoors" that would allow remote access or control after China raised concerns over potential security risks in the H20 chip. Exports of Nvidia's other advanced AI chips, barring the H20, to China are still restricted. Successive U.S. administrations have curbed exports of advanced chips to China, looking to stymie Beijing's AI and defense development. While this has impacted U.S. firms' ability to fully address booming demand from China, one of the world's largest semiconductor markets, it still remains an important revenue driver for American chipmakers. Huang has said the company's leadership position could slip without sales to China, where developers were being courted by Huawei Technologies [RIC:RIC: with chips produced in China. In May, Nvidia said the H20 had brought in $4.6 billion in sales in the first quarter and that China accounted for 12.5% of overall revenue during the period.
Reuters
an hour ago
- Reuters
TV broadcaster Nexstar in advanced talks to acquire rival Tegna, source says
Aug 8 (Reuters) - Television broadcaster Nexstar Media Group (NXST.O), opens new tab is in advanced talks to acquire rival Tegna (TGNA.N), opens new tab, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Friday. Shares of Tegna surged 30% in extended trading following the report, while Nexstar's shares were largely flat. A potential deal between the two companies would mark a significant step in the ongoing consolidation of the U.S. television industry, as broadcasters adapt to shifting consumer habits driven by cord-cutting and the rapid expansion of streaming, amid expectations of looser regulations under U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. Nexstar, owns or partners with over 200 stations in 116 markets. It also operates high-profile media properties including The CW and NewsNation, and has recently increased its focus on sports content. Tegna owns 64 stations and operates networks such as True Crime Network. The company has a market valuation of approximately $2.42 billion, compared with Nexstar's $5.56 billion, according to LSEG data. The Wall Street Journal, which first reported the talks, said a deal could be finalized soon, provided negotiations avoid last-minute obstacles. Both Nexstar and Tegna declined to comment on the report. Tegna has been subject to takeover interest in the past. In 2022, it agreed to be taken private by Standard General in a deal valued at $8.6 billion, including debt, but later terminated the merger agreement following regulatory scrutiny.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Pornographic Taylor Swift deepfakes generated by Musk's Grok AI
Elon Musk's AI video generator has been accused of making "a deliberate choice" to create sexually explicit clips of Taylor Swift without prompting, says an expert in online abuse."This is not misogyny by accident, it is by design," said Clare McGlynn, a law professor who has helped draft a law which would make pornographic deepfakes to a report by The Verge, Grok Imagine's new "spicy" mode "didn't hesitate to spit out fully uncensored topless videos" of the pop star without being asked to make explicit report also said proper age verification methods - which became law in July - were not in the company behind Grok, has been approached for comment. XAI's own acceptable use policy prohibits "depicting likenesses of persons in a pornographic manner"."That this content is produced without prompting demonstrates the misogynistic bias of much AI technology," said Prof McGlynn of Durham University. "Platforms like X could have prevented this if they had chosen to, but they have made a deliberate choice not to," she is not the first time Taylor Swift's image has been used in this explicit deepfakes using her face went viral and were viewed millions of times on X and Telegram in January 2024. Deepfakes are computer-generated images which replace the face of one person with another. 'Completely uncensored, completely exposed' In testing the guardrails of Grok Imagine, The Verge news writer Jess Weatherbed entered the prompt: "Taylor Swift celebrating Coachella with the boys".Grok generated still images of Swift wearing a dress with a group of men behind could then be animated into short video clips under four different settings: "normal", "fun", "custom" or "spicy". "She ripped [the dress] off immediately, had nothing but a tasselled thong underneath, and started dancing, completely uncensored, completely exposed," Ms Weatherbed told BBC added: "It was shocking how fast I was just met with it - I in no way asked it to remove her clothing, all I did was select the 'spicy' option."Gizmodo reported similarly explicit results of famous women, though some searches also returned blurred videos or with a "video moderated" BBC has been unable to independently verify the results of the AI video Weatherbed said she signed up to the paid version of Grok Imagine, which cost £30, using a brand new Apple asked for her date of birth but there was no other age verification in place, she new UK laws which entered into force at the end of July, platforms which show explicit images must verify users' ages using methods which are "technically accurate, robust, reliable and fair"."Sites and apps that include Generative AI tools that can generate pornographic material are regulated under the Act," the media regulator Ofcom told BBC News."We are aware of the increasing and fast-developing risk GenAI tools may pose in the online space, especially to children, and we are working to ensure platforms put appropriate safeguards in place to mitigate these risks," it said in a statement. New UK laws Currently, generating pornographic deepfakes is illegal when used in revenge porn or depicts children. Prof McGlynn helped draft an amendment to the law which would make generating or requesting all non-consensual pornographic deepfakes illegal. The government has committed to making this amendment law, but it is yet to come into force."Every woman should have the right to choose who owns intimate images of her," said Baroness Owen, who proposed the amendment in the House of Lords."It is essential that these models are not used in such a way that violates a woman's right to consent whether she be a celebrity or not," Lady Owen continued in a statement given to BBC News. "This case is a clear example of why the Government must not delay any further in its implementation of the Lords amendments," she added.A Ministry of Justice spokesperson said: "Sexually explicit deepfakes created without consent are degrading and harmful. "We refuse to tolerate the violence against women and girls that stains our society which is why we have passed legislation to ban their creation as quickly as possible." When pornographic deepfakes using Taylor Swift's face went viral in 2024, X temporarily blocked searches for her name on the the time, X said it was "actively removing" the images and taking "appropriate actions" against the accounts involved in spreading Weatherbed said the team at The Verge chose Taylor Swift to test the Grok Imagine feature because of this incident."We assumed - wrongly now - that if they had put any kind of safeguards in place to prevent them from emulating the likeness of celebrities, that she would be first on the list, given the issues that they've had," she Swift's representatives have been contacted for comment. Sign up for our Tech Decoded newsletter to follow the world's top tech stories and trends. Outside the UK? Sign up here.
