Block (NYSE:XYZ) Sets New 52-Week High on Strong Earnings

Block, Inc. (NYSE:XYZ)’s stock price reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $87.44 and last traded at $85.9190, with a volume of 2,602,043 shares. The stock had previously closed at $76.00.

The technology company reported $1.13 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.45. Block had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 1.43%. The business had revenue of $6.72 billion for the quarter. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 9.9% on a year-over-year basis.

More Block News

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Block reported third-quarter earnings of $1.13 per share, up from $0.54 a year earlier, and revenue of $6.72 billion, up 9.9%. The company also raised its full-year profit outlook, citing Cash App strength; Square’s U.S. payment-volume growth accelerated. Reuters: Block raises full-year profit outlook
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts raised targets: Susquehanna to $110 and Bank of America to $117, with positive and buy ratings, respectively. Needham reaffirmed its buy rating and $100 target. These moves suggest analysts see further upside. Susquehanna recommendations Bank of America recommendations
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP reaffirmed its “market perform” rating, signaling a more cautious view than the recent target increases. Citizens JMP recommendations
• Negative Sentiment: Block expects to pay about $764 million to settle a Justice Department money-laundering-controls probe. The company has reserved funds, but uncertainty about whether the reserve will cover the settlement—and scrutiny of compliance controls—could weigh on investor sentiment. Report on DOJ probe and expected settlement

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

XYZ has been the topic of several research reports. UBS Group set a $96.00 price target on shares of Block in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Block from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 2nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Block in a report on Wednesday. Barclays began coverage on shares of Block in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $100.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Block from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-eight have given a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Block presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $97.13.

Insider Activity at Block

In other Block news, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 9,511 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $82.43, for a total value of $783,991.73. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 423,262 shares in the company, valued at $34,889,486.66. This represents a 2.20% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Anthony Eisen sold 6,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.48, for a total transaction of $488,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,482,672 shares in the company, valued at $120,808,114.56. This represents a 0.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 232,686 shares of company stock valued at $18,360,227. Corporate insiders own 11.37% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in XYZ. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Block during the second quarter valued at $621,703,000. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in Block by 18.3% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 3,194,419 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $234,886,000 after buying an additional 494,083 shares in the last quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd grew its position in Block by 6.9% during the second quarter. Hyperion Asset Management Ltd now owns 2,682,854 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $203,897,000 after buying an additional 172,848 shares in the last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in Block by 528.2% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 3,309,296 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $199,153,000 after acquiring an additional 2,782,523 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Block by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 3,147,988 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $189,353,000 after acquiring an additional 39,112 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block Price Performance

The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $77.79 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $71.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $52.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 156.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 2.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 2.21 and a current ratio of 2.21.

About Block

Block, Inc is a financial technology company that provides payments, commerce, and financial services through an ecosystem of business and consumer products. Formerly known as Square, the company was co-founded by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and changed its corporate name to Block in 2021.

Its Square ecosystem serves businesses with point-of-sale hardware, payment processing, invoicing, payroll, inventory management, customer engagement, online commerce, and other software tools. Block also offers lending and other financial services to eligible business customers through Square-related products.

For consumers, Block operates Cash App, a mobile financial services platform that supports services such as peer-to-peer payments, money transfers, a Cash App Card, direct deposit, investing, and bitcoin transactions, subject to product and geographic availability.