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Square (SQ) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Square (SQ - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $119.95, moving -1.84% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.34% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.5%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.73%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 25.94% over the past month. This has outpaced the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 7.57% and the S&P 500's gain of 5.71% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from SQ as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be August 5, 2020. In that report, analysts expect SQ to post earnings of -$0.09 per share. This would mark a year-over-year decline of 142.86%. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $1.14 billion, down 2.89% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $0.16 per share and revenue of $5.19 billion, which would represent changes of -80% and +10.21%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors should also note any recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 5.16% higher. SQ is holding a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold) right now.

Investors should also note SQ's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 782.56. Its industry sports an average Forward P/E of 75.26, so we one might conclude that SQ is trading at a premium comparatively.

Meanwhile, SQ's PEG ratio is currently 51.69. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock's expected earnings growth rate. SQ's industry had an average PEG ratio of 3.7 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 73, which puts it in the top 29% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

To follow SQ in the coming trading sessions, be sure to utilize Zacks.com.


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