Back to top

Image: Bigstock

Block (SQ) Surpasses Market Returns: Some Facts Worth Knowing

Read MoreHide Full Article

Block (SQ - Free Report) closed at $66.52 in the latest trading session, marking a +1.96% move from the prior day. The stock outpaced the S&P 500's daily gain of 0.4%. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.62%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, added 0.6%.

The mobile payments services provider's stock has climbed by 0.87% in the past month, falling short of the Business Services sector's gain of 4.05% and the S&P 500's gain of 1.71%.

The upcoming earnings release of Block will be of great interest to investors. In that report, analysts expect Block to post earnings of $0.88 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 60%. Meanwhile, the latest consensus estimate predicts the revenue to be $6.17 billion, indicating a 9.77% increase compared to the same quarter of the previous year.

SQ's full-year Zacks Consensus Estimates are calling for earnings of $3.60 per share and revenue of $24.52 billion. These results would represent year-over-year changes of +100% and +11.89%, respectively.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Block. Such recent modifications usually signify the changing landscape of near-term business trends. Hence, positive alterations in estimates signify analyst optimism regarding the company's business and profitability.

Empirical research indicates that these revisions in estimates have a direct correlation with impending stock price performance. To exploit this, we've formed the Zacks Rank, a quantitative model that includes these estimate changes and presents a viable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system, spanning from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), boasts an impressive track record of outperformance, audited externally, with #1 ranked stocks yielding an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 0.33% higher within the past month. Block presently features a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).

Looking at valuation, Block is presently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 18.13. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 24.17, which means Block is trading at a discount to the group.

Meanwhile, SQ's PEG ratio is currently 0.55. 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 1.54 at the close of the market yesterday.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 62, putting it in the top 25% of all 250+ industries.

The strength of our individual industry groups is measured by the Zacks Industry Rank, which is calculated based on the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within these 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.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


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


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

Published in