Latest news with #CashAppCard
Business Mayor
04-05-2025
- Business
- Business Mayor
Block shares plunge 18% as company takes 'cautious stance,' issues weak guidance for year
Block reported first-quarter results that missed Wall Street expectations on Thursday and issued a disappointing outlook. The stock tumbled 15% in extended trading. Here is how the company did, compared to analysts' consensus estimates from LSEG. Earnings per share: 56 cents adjusted. That figure may not be comparable to estimates. 56 cents adjusted. That figure may not be comparable to estimates. Revenue: $5.77 billion vs. $6.2 billion expected Revenue decreased about 3% from $5.96 billion a year earlier. Gross profit rose 9% to $2.29 billion from $2.09 billion a year earlier. That missed analysts' forecasts of $2.32 billion for the quarter. Block provided weaker-than-expected profit guidance for the second quarter and full year, reflecting challenging economic conditions. A growing number of tech companies are warning investors about the rest of the year following President Donald Trump's announcement of sweeping tariffs on imported goods last month. 'We recognize we are operating in a more dynamic macro environment, so we have reflected a more cautious stance on the macro outlook into our guidance for the rest of the year,' the company wrote in its quarterly report. The company expects gross profit in the second quarter of $2.45 billion and $9.96 billion for the full year. Analysts were expecting $2.54 billion and $10.2 billion, respectively, according to StreetAccount. In the first quarter, gross payment volume, or a measure of money moving through Square and Cash App, came in light at $56.8 billion, versus expectations of $58 billion, according to StreetAccount. Despite Cash App's broader push into financial services and lending, the segment's gross profit was a bit softer than expected. CFO Amrita Ahuja cited lower inflows and muted tax-season spending, but said the company expect a pickup later this year, in part because of the nationwide expansion of the Cash App Borrow program following approval by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. While Wall Street is selling on the results, Ahuja said Block delivered its most profitable quarter ever, which she said is 'a reflection of the continued discipline across our business and the efficiency with which we operate.' Square faces the same risks as many others in the payments space due to its reliance on consumer spending. But international markets, now nearly 18% of its volume, remain a bright spot, and a recent survey of small and medium-sized businesses showed strong adoption and satisfaction, even as price sensitivity grows and tariff risks linger. Block, an early leader in point-of-sale systems for small businesses, faces growing competition from rivals like Toast and Fiserv 's Clover — though Square still gained share during the quarter in its target verticals including retail, as well as food and beverage. Cash App continues to push deeper into banking. This quarter marked the debut of Afterpay's buy now, pay later integration on the Cash App Card, part of Block's broader effort to expand credit access. With regulatory approval for Borrow, the company can effectively double the number of users eligible for the product, Ahuja said, while also improving unit economics by bringing loan servicing and origination fully in-house. Cash App gross profit was up 10% from a year earlier to $1.38 billion. Competition in peer-to-peer payments is heating up, after Venmo reported a 20% jump in revenue. Block CEO Jack Dorsey said Cash App is focused on offering more products, while at the same time still targeting additional users. 'We, of course, want to deepen engagement with our customers through banking services and Borrow — and I have no doubt we will,' Dorsey said on the earnings call. 'But at the same time, we need to make sure that we continuously grow our network, and that starts with peer-to-peer.' Analysts view lending as a key piece of monetization, alongside growing opportunities in merchant services and advertising. Morgan Stanley noted that about half of surveyed Square merchants now use Block's banking products. Block recorded bitcoin holdings of $2.3 billion at the end of the quarter. The company expects to deliver its first bitcoin mining chips with Proto in the second half of the year. Block shares are down 31% this year as of Thursday's close. — CNBC's Robert Hum contributed to this report. READ SOURCE
Yahoo
02-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Block Shares Nosedive 20% After Q1 Miss, Cuts Full?Year Outlook
Block (NYSE:XYZ) shares plunged 20% on Friday morning trading after its Q1 results fell short of forecasts, driven by weaker?than?anticipated Cash App Card spending. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 8 Warning Sign with XYZ. The merchant?services and payments firm posted adjusted EPS of $0.56, below the $0.94 analysts' consensus and down from $0.71 in Q4 2024. Gross payment volume slid to $56.8 billion, missing the $57.9 billion street view and down from $62.0 billion in the prior quarter. Gross profit dipped to $2.29 billion versus expectations of $2.32 billion, though year?on?year it rose from $2.09 billion in Q1 2024. Cash App contributed $1.38 billion (up 10% Y/Y) and Square's segment added $898 million (up 9% Y/Y). Non?GAAP operating expenses climbed to $1.84 billion from $1.57 billion in Q4. Adjusted EBITDA reached $812.8 million, topping the $783.4 million estimate. Looking ahead, Block now sees Q2 gross profit of $2.45 billion versus a $2.54 billion consensus, and full?year 2025 gross profit of $9.96 billion (prior guidance: $10.22 billion; consensus: $10.18 billion). The company plans to broaden Cash App Borrow loans, refine product controls and boost high?ROI marketing to drive a rebound in the back half of the year. This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Sign in to access your portfolio
CNA
01-05-2025
- Business
- CNA
Block trims forecast as consumer spending slowdown fears mount, shares slump
Block cut its profit forecast for 2025 and missed estimates for quarterly earnings on Thursday as the payments firm grapples with muted consumer spending, sending its shares down 19 per cent in extended trading. President Donald Trump's trade policies have sparked concerns over consumer spending, which makes up more than two-thirds of U.S. economic activity, as well as fears of stagflation. "We are operating in a more dynamic macro environment, so we have reflected a more cautious stance on the macro outlook into our guidance for the rest of the year," the company said. The Jack Dorsey-led firm cut its forecast for 2025 gross profit growth to 12 per cent from 15 per cent, while projecting second-quarter gross profit at $2.45 billion, below Wall Street estimates of $2.54 billion. Its Cash App, which enables peer-to-peer mobile payments, reported gross profit growth of about 10 per cent in the first-quarter ended March 31, down from 25 per cent last year. "Non-discretionary Cash App Card spend in areas like grocery and gas was more resilient, while we saw a more pronounced impact to discretionary spending in areas like travel and media," Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja said on a post-earnings call. Block also reported a 60 per cent drop in its first-quarter profit as it recorded a $93.4 million remeasurement loss on its bitcoin investments, compared to a $233.4 million similar gain in the year-ago period. On an adjusted basis, profit came in at 56 cents per share, well below analysts' expectations of 87 cents, according to data compiled by LSEG. Block facilitates bitcoin purchases on its platform by acquiring the cryptocurrency through private broker dealers and reselling it at a small premium. Bitcoin revenue fell 15.7 per cent to $2.30 billion in the quarter ended March 31, as a wider market downturn saw the cryptocurrency decline 12 per cent in the first quarter. The fintech reported transaction-based revenue of $1.55 billion, missing expectations of $1.59 billion.
Yahoo
04-03-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Sabrina Carpenter 2025 U.S. tour dates: How to get pre-sale tickets to the 'Short n' Sweet Tour' today
Sabrina Carpenter's Short n' Sweet tour is growing! The 'Busy Woman' singer is, well, going to be a busy woman with the 17 new dates added to her North American tour for her Grammy-winning album of the same name. The extended U.S. dates kick off on Oct. 23 in Pittsburgh, ending on Nov. 23 in Los Angeles. If you're in the New York area, you could even spend Halloween with Sabrina at MSG. This leg of the Short n' Sweet Tour will feature supporting artists Olivia Dean, Ravyn Lenae and Amber Mark. You can sign up for pre-sale ticket access now through Sabrina's official pre-sale and the exclusive Cash App Card pre-sale. General sale opens Friday, Mar. 7. The exclusive Cash App Card pre-sale begins Tuesday, Mar. 4 at 10 a.m. local venue time. Then, Sabrina Carpenter's official pre-sale for new Short n' Sweet Tour dates opens on Tuesday, Mar. 4, 2025, at 12 p.m. local venue time. Both pre-sales are open to sign up now. Sign up for Cash App pre-sale Sign up for official pre-sale General sale for the new Sabrina Carpenter concert dates will open Friday, Mar. 7, 2025 at 10 a.m. local venue time. Find tickets While we don't know yet what tickets for this leg of the tour will officially cost, Vivid Seats resellers have priced tickets for the opening night of this leg in Pittsburgh, PA starting at $319. StubHub has resale tickets for that same date starting at $317. Find tickets on Vivid Seats Find tickets on StubHub Oct. 23 Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena Oct. 24 Pittsburgh, PA @ PPG Paints Arena Oct. 26 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Oct. 28 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Oct. 29 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Oct. 31 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Nov. 1 New York, NY @ Madison Square Garden Nov. 4 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena Nov. 5 Nashville, TN @ Bridgestone Arena Nov. 10 Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena Nov. 11 Toronto, ON @ Scotiabank Arena Nov. 16 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Nov. 17 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Nov. 19 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Nov. 20 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Nov. 22 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Nov. 23 Los Angeles, CA @ Arena Sign up for Cash App pre-sale Sign up for official pre-sale
Yahoo
02-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Block Stock Sinks on Lackluster Growth. Is It Time to Buy on the Dip?
Shares of Block (NYSE: XYZ) were tumbling after the fintech company reported weaker-than-expected Q4 results that missed analyst expectations. The big drop now leaves the company down more than 20% on the year, as of this writing. Here's a closer look at Block's results to help determine if this is a good buying opportunity. Block operates two main businesses: Square and Cash App. The former, which was the company's original business, was developed as a way for merchants to accept card payments from their smartphones or tablets. The business has evolved, and now Square offers an entire software and hardware ecosystem to help retailers manage their businesses. Meanwhile, Cash App is best known as a peer-to-peer payment network. It also offers other services such as savings accounts, brokerage accounts, crypto services, debit cards, lending, and tax preparation. For the fourth quarter, Block's revenue rose nearly 5% to $6.03 billion, which was short of the $6.29 billion analysts were expecting, as compiled by LSEG. Square revenue climbed 9% to $1.97 billion, while Cash App revenue rose 3% to $4.02 billion. The company prefers to focus on gross profits instead of revenue, as its Bitcoin trading business can impact revenue. On that front, gross profits rose 14% to $2.31 billion. Square gross profits increased 12% to $924 million, while Cash App gross profits jumped 16% to $1.38 billion. Adjusted earnings per share (EPS), meanwhile, surged 51% to $0.71, but fell well short of the $0.87 consensus. Square's gross payment volume (GPV), which is the dollar value of the transactions that get processed through its payment network, rose 10% in the quarter. U.S. GPV increased 7%, while international GPV soared 25%. The company said that the increases were due to strong retention and improving same-store-sales growth for the businesses using the Square platform. For Cash App, monthly transacting users grew 9% to 25 million, while gross profit per these monthly active users climbed 13% to $76. In addition, active users who deposit their paychecks through the app jumped 25% to 2.5 million users. Block said it spent 2024 overhauling Square's technology to transform it from a payments platform to a commerce platform, while also improving its onboarding process. It will now look to grow the business in 2025 through retention, adding customers, product enhancements, and increased marketing investments. It recently added a number of new features to its restaurant solution, including Bar Tabs, Scan-to-Pay, and Instant Payouts for market-delivery orders. For Cash App, Block said that in 2024, it expanded its financial services capabilities while making investments in compliance, customer support, and the customer experience. It added new features, such as high-yield savings, free in-network ATM withdrawals, overdraft coverage, and free tax filing. In 2025, the company is looking for the rollout of Afterpay on its Cash App and its Cash App Card to be a big growth driver. It also expects its Bitcoin mining chip system Proto to be a nice contributor in the second half of 2025. Overall, Block is looking to see a significant growth inflection point during 2025. Its goal is to finish the year with a "Rule of 40" run rate. (The Rule of 40 is generally when a company has revenue growth and profit margins that are 40% or above.) Block uses gross profit growth instead of revenue growth because its revenue growth can be impacted by its less predictable Bitcoin trading business. The company is looking for Q1 to be the low point for gross profit growth due to last year's leap year and currency headwinds. Trading at a forward price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) of 15 times analysts' earnings estimates for 2025, Block stock is at one of its lowest valuations in quite awhile. While the company missed some headline numbers, the earnings report overall was solid, with nice double-digit gross profit growth at both its two main businesses. Meanwhile, the company was very bullish about 2025, looking for growth to begin to accelerate after the first quarter. It sees the introduction of AfterPay into Cash App as a big opportunity, while it's looking to pour money into advertising for Square after spending 2024 revamping the the technology behind it. Given Block's valuation and upbeat outlook, this looks like a good time to buy the stock on the dip. Ever feel like you missed the boat in buying the most successful stocks? Then you'll want to hear this. On rare occasions, our expert team of analysts issues a 'Double Down' stock recommendation for companies that they think are about to pop. If you're worried you've already missed your chance to invest, now is the best time to buy before it's too late. And the numbers speak for themselves: Nvidia: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2009, you'd have $311,551!* Apple: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2008, you'd have $44,990!* Netflix: if you invested $1,000 when we doubled down in 2004, you'd have $519,375!* Right now, we're issuing 'Double Down' alerts for three incredible companies, and there may not be another chance like this anytime soon.*Stock Advisor returns as of February 24, 2025 Geoffrey Seiler has positions in Block. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Block. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Block Stock Sinks on Lackluster Growth. Is It Time to Buy on the Dip? was originally published by The Motley Fool
