Block shares see after-hours bump as Q1 results top estimates
Fintech firm Block’s first-quarter results have beat Wall Street analyst revenue and earnings expectations which saw its shares jump after-hours.
On May 2, Block, Inc. posted its Q1 2024 results showing revenues of $5.96 billion — beating the $5.75 billion estimate from analytic firm Zacks by 3.54%.
Block’s earnings per share was $0.85 — up from Zack’s $0.62 per share estimate. Its Q1 gross profits reached $2.09 billion, up 22% from the year-ago quarter and reported a net income of $472 million.
The firm’s mobile payments and crypto platform Cash App reported $1.26 billion in gross profits for Q1 — up 25% year-on-year. The platform’s revenue also jumped 23% to $4.17 billion from the year-ago quarter.
Block boosted its second-quarter gross profit outlook to $2.185 billion, slightly up from its earlier $2.165 billion. The company also bumped its EBITDA forecast to $690 million, up from $670 million.
Block, Inc. (SQ) shares closed up 5.1% on May 2 at $70.30, jumping 6.8% after-hours to $74.90, according to Google Finance.
Its share price is down 2.6% year-to-date — it fell from around $73 to $66 earlier this week after NBC News reported United States prosecutors were probing the firm after a whistleblower alleged its Square and Cash App businesses processed transactions for terrorist groups and users in sanctioned countries.
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Block co-founder Jack Dorsey opened its shareholder letter by answering the question: “Why the hell are you all spending so much time on Bitcoin?”
Dorsey said less than 3% of its resources go to Bitcoin-related projects, which are “fully covered” by its Bitcoin exchange profits, but claimed it’s needed as “the world needs an open protocol for money, one that’s not owned or controlled by any single entity.”
“We believe Bitcoin is the best and only candidate to be that protocol,” he wrote. Dorsey added it benefitted Block as an “open protocol for money helps us serve more people around the world faster.”
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