Judging by the sharp rally in Block Inc. shares, you could say it was a blockbuster quarter for the Square and Cash App parent company. Block’s stock
SQ,
+5.41%
was ahead 17% in premarket trading Friday and would log its best day in over 15 months — since it rose 17.8% on Nov. 10, 2022 — if current gains carried through to the regular session. The payment-technology company showed bottom-line improvement with its latest report and impressed Wall Street with its talk of efficiency.
The company’s “progress over the past several months in terms of streamlining itself organizationally, sharpening its focus within its two key businesses Square and Cash App, and becoming hyper-focused on driving profitable growth has been impressive — and we think there’s more to go,” wrote Seaport Research analyst Jeff Cantwell. He turned bullish on Block’s stock after its Thursday afternoon earnings report, cheering management’s “excellence in execution” and the company’s “compelling” margin expansion. Block posted a 28% margin on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) — up 1,100 basis points from a year before. “We think it’s very rare to see that level of operating leverage in the space right now, particularly in the current macro environment, and it’s the key reason which compels us to change our investment thesis on the company,” Cantwell wrote, as he lifted his price target on the stock to buy from neutral. He has a $95 target price on shares. Benchmark Company analyst Mark Palmer lauded Block as “one of the most compelling stock stories” in fintech, in part due to his “expectation that management’s focus on controlling expense growth would have a dramat …
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SQ,
+5.41%
was ahead 17% in premarket trading Friday and would log its best day in over 15 months — since it rose 17.8% on Nov. 10, 2022 — if current gains carried through to the regular session. The payment-technology company showed bottom-line improvement with its latest report and impressed Wall Street with its talk of efficiency.
The company’s “progress over the past several months in terms of streamlining itself organizationally, sharpening its focus within its two key businesses Square and Cash App, and becoming hyper-focused on driving profitable growth has been impressive — and we think there’s more to go,” wrote Seaport Research analyst Jeff Cantwell. He turned bullish on Block’s stock after its Thursday afternoon earnings report, cheering management’s “excellence in execution” and the company’s “compelling” margin expansion. Block posted a 28% margin on adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) — up 1,100 basis points from a year before. “We think it’s very rare to see that level of operating leverage in the space right now, particularly in the current macro environment, and it’s the key reason which compels us to change our investment thesis on the company,” Cantwell wrote, as he lifted his price target on the stock to buy from neutral. He has a $95 target price on shares. Benchmark Company analyst Mark Palmer lauded Block as “one of the most compelling stock stories” in fintech, in part due to his “expectation that management’s focus on controlling expense growth would have a dramat …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]