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Square (SQ) Outpaces Stock Market Gains: What You Should Know

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Square (SQ - Free Report) closed at $248.87 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.92% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.03%.

Coming into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 10.82% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 6.22%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.12%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from SQ as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect SQ to post earnings of $0.32 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 77.78%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.86 billion, up 152.67% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.51 per share and revenue of $19.65 billion, which would represent changes of +79.76% and +106.89%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 10.43% higher. SQ is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, SQ is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 163.56. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 80.43.

It is also worth noting that SQ currently has a PEG ratio of 3.47. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. Internet - Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 3.61 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 214, which puts it in the bottom 16% 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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