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Why Block (SQ) Dipped More Than Broader Market Today

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Block (SQ - Free Report) closed at $65.10 in the latest trading session, marking a -1.96% move from the prior day. The stock trailed the S&P 500, which registered a daily loss of 0.11%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.22%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.23%.

Shares of the mobile payments services provider have depreciated by 9.29% over the course of the past month, underperforming the Business Services sector's gain of 0.39% and the S&P 500's gain of 3.51%.

Market participants will be closely following the financial results of Block in its upcoming release. The company's upcoming EPS is projected at $0.75, signifying a 92.31% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year. Meanwhile, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenue is projecting net sales of $6.29 billion, up 13.63% from the year-ago period.

For the full year, the Zacks Consensus Estimates project earnings of $3.11 per share and a revenue of $25.22 billion, demonstrating changes of +72.78% and +15.07%, respectively, from the preceding year.

It's also important for investors to be aware of any recent modifications to analyst estimates for Block. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As a result, upbeat changes in estimates indicate analysts' favorable outlook on the company's business health and profitability.

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.

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 last 30 days, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has witnessed a 1.41% increase. Right now, Block possesses a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

In terms of valuation, Block is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 21.37. This signifies a discount in comparison to the average Forward P/E of 24.15 for its industry.

We can additionally observe that SQ currently boasts a PEG ratio of 0.64. 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. The average PEG ratio for the Technology Services industry stood at 1.46 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. At present, this industry carries a Zacks Industry Rank of 62, placing it within the top 25% of over 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.

Remember to apply Zacks.com to follow these and more stock-moving metrics during the upcoming trading sessions.


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