Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Block (SQ) Gains But Lags Market: What You Should Know

Read MoreHide Full Article

Block (SQ - Free Report) closed at $44.35 in the latest trading session, marking a +0.48% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.59% gain on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.35%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.83%.

Prior to today's trading, shares of the mobile payments services provider had lost 23.53% over the past month. This has lagged the Business Services sector's loss of 3.08% and the S&P 500's loss of 2.84% in that time.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from Block as it approaches its next earnings report date. In that report, analysts expect Block to post earnings of $0.43 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 2.38%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $5.4 billion, up 19.63% from the year-ago period.

SQ's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $1.69 per share and revenue of $21.47 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +69% and +22.47%, respectively.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for Block should also be noted by investors. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. With this in mind, we can consider positive estimate revisions a sign of optimism about the company's business outlook.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.45% lower within the past month. Block is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that Block has a Forward P/E ratio of 26.08 right now. This valuation marks a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 22.59.

It is also worth noting that SQ currently has a PEG ratio of 0.87. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. Technology Services stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 1.42 based on yesterday's closing prices.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 108, which puts it in the top 43% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks.com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


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

Published in