Back to top

Image: Bigstock

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

Read MoreHide Full Article

Block (SQ - Free Report) closed the most recent trading day at $60.57, moving -0.7% from the previous trading session. This change lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.38%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.68%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 10.47%.

Coming into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had lost 4.33% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector lost 0.78%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.61%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Block as it approaches its next earnings report date. This is expected to be May 4, 2023. In that report, analysts expect Block to post earnings of $0.31 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 72.22%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $4.58 billion, up 15.54% from the year-ago period.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.63 per share and revenue of $19.76 billion. These totals would mark changes of +63% and +12.68%, respectively, from last year.

It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for Block. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

Ranging from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), the Zacks Rank system has a proven, outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks returning an average of +25% annually since 1988. Within the past 30 days, our consensus EPS projection has moved 86.36% lower. Block is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at its valuation, Block is holding a Forward P/E ratio of 37.33. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.16.

It is also worth noting that SQ currently has a PEG ratio of 1.52. 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. SQ's industry had an average PEG ratio of 1.62 as of yesterday's close.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 152, which puts it in the bottom 40% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank includes is listed in order from best to worst in terms of the average Zacks Rank of the individual companies within each of these sectors. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Block, Inc. (SQ) - free report >>

Published in