SQ - Square, Inc.
48.50 +1.69 (3.61%)
Pre-Market: 5:37AM EDT
| Previous Close | 52.38 |
| Open | 49.78 |
| Bid | 47.50 x 900 |
| Ask | 47.99 x 2200 |
| Day's Range | 46.05 - 50.01 |
| 52 Week Range | 32.33 - 87.25 |
| Volume | 16,507,593 |
| Avg. Volume | 12,949,888 |
| Market Cap | 20.373B |
| Beta (5Y Monthly) | 2.70 |
| PE Ratio (TTM) | 57.79 |
| EPS (TTM) | 0.81 |
| Earnings Date | Apr 28, 2020 - May 03, 2020 |
| Forward Dividend & Yield | N/A (N/A) |
| Ex-Dividend Date | N/A |
| 1y Target Est | 63.46 |
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- Bloomberg
Blackstone Abandons $20 Million Deposit on Scrapped Office Deal
(Bloomberg) -- Blackstone Group Inc. is abandoning plans to buy an office building in Oakland, California, that’s leased to payments company Square Inc., according to people familiar with the matter.The private-equity giant will forfeit a $20 million deposit it made to purchase the 397,000-square-foot building, known as Uptown Station, said the people, who asked not to be identified discussing the private negotiations.Commercial real estate investors are reevaluating plans with huge swaths of the U.S. locked down to slow the spread of the coronavirus. Blackstone’s deal to buy Uptown Station from CIM Group for about $400 million was seen just weeks ago as a symbol of Oakland’s draw for property owners who wanted to bet on the technology industry’s expansion outside of San Francisco.Blackstone had planned to purchase the building through its non-traded real estate investment trust, BREIT. The firm decided to walk away after recent changes in the lending market, one of the people said. Blackstone is still actively pursuing real estate acquisitions, sales and financings, according to the person.A spokeswoman for CIM didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment. Institutional Real Estate previously reported that the deal had fallen apart.Uptown Station has been a symbol of tech’s migration to Oakland. Uber Technologies Inc. purchased the shuttered 1920s-era Sears store in 2015 with plans to renovate it for a major East Bay outpost. That effort unraveled two years later as the ride-hailing company stumbled. CIM bought the property in late 2017 for $180 million with a plan to complete the remodel.Square signed a lease for the office a year later, giving it room for as many as 2,000 employees. On its website, the payments company says it’s “hella proud” of its newest office.Public health officials in the San Francisco Bay Area have extended an order for people to stay at home through May 3.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investopedia
How Square Makes Money: Transactions and Subscriptions
Square generates most of its revenue from online transaction and subscription fees, but Cash App bitcoin revenue is growing the fastest.
- Yahoo Finance
Coronavirus 'good scenario' could be 20% of small businesses fail
Karen Mills, the former administrator of the Small Business Administration, welcomed the stimulus, but expressed concern on whether the money could arrive fast enough to make a difference.
- Zacks
Why Is Square (SQ) Down 29.4% Since Last Earnings Report?
Square (SQ) reported earnings 30 days ago. What's next for the stock? We take a look at earnings estimates for some clues.
- Zacks
Square (SQ) Updates Guidance Amid Coronavirus Outbreak
Square (SQ) lowers guidance for the first quarter due to uncertainties related to COVID-19.
- Simply Wall St.
Should You Be Excited About Square, Inc.'s (NYSE:SQ) 22% Return On Equity?
Many investors are still learning about the various metrics that can be useful when analysing a stock. This article is...
- MarketWatch
Square stock rockets toward third straight day of double-digit percentage gains
Shares of Square Inc. are up more than 11% in Thursday trading and on track to post double-digit gains for the third-straight day after the Senate approved a stimulus package that aims to provide some relief for small businesses. "We believe Square is down, but not out," MoffettNathanson analyst Lisa Ellis wrote Thursday. "The next couple of quarters will likely be quite challenging...but we believe Square will recover: Square has >$3 billion in available cash - plenty to withstand the near-term COVID-19 'shock', Square's strong seller product offerings and resilience should enable the company to gain market share (and hopefully dispense with a few smaller competitors) over the next one to two years, and Square's consumer Cash App is far less affected by the crisis, so should provide some buffer to revenues." She maintained a buy rating and $70 price target on the stock in a note to clients. Square's shares have fallen 24% over the past month as the S&P 500 has lost 18%.
- Investor's Business Daily
Square Stock Rallies On Business Updates Amid Coronavirus Bear Market
Square stock has been hard hit by the coronavirus bear market. But, SQ stock rallied after it hosted an analyst day March 24 and updated business trends.
- MarketWatch
Square stock on track for back-to-back record rallies after ‘candid’ business updates
Square shares (SQ) rose 15.8% in Tuesday’s session, marking their best single-day percentage gain on record, but the stock is surging toward an even bigger increase Wednesday. The rally comes a day after Square issued an update on its business amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The payment processor pulled its full-year forecast Tuesday while lowering its outlook for the first quarter.
- TipRanks
Coronavirus Weighs on Square’s Ecosystem, Estimates Lowered
Yesterday was a good day for stocks, with the market rebounding across the board following the announcement of a $2-trillion stimulus bill to help boost an ailing economy reeling from COVID-19’s sharp impact. The bounce was felt nicely at Square (SQ) as the point-of-sale and payment processing company gained 16% in the session. Despite the uptick, the fintech company’s share price is still down by 19% year-to-date. Although its market cap of $22.6 billion still places Square firmly in large-cap territory, the company is heavily reliant on small to medium sized businesses using its hardware and software products. Square announced on Tuesday that due to the impact of the coronavirus on gross processing volume (GPV), it is withdrawing its full-year 2020 guidance, in tandem with a revised revenue and gross profit outlook for the first quarter. GPV is an important metric for Square, as it is used to measure how much is spent using the company's mobile and point-of-sale products. Rosenblatt Securities’ Kenneth Hill cites the lower GPV as the reason for a reduction of 1Q EPS targets, too. The estimate comes down from $0.16 to 0.15, alongside a revision for full year 2020 EPS, which is reduced from $0.92 to $0.84. The 5-star analyst maintained a Neutral rating along with another reduction - the price target comes down from $72 to $52. Should the figure be met over the next year, investors stand to take home a 3% gain. (To watch Hill’s track record, click here) Square noted that although January and February were strong months, with seller gross profit increasing by 32%, over the last couple of weeks there has been a sharp downturn, with seller GPV down by 25% year-over-year. Taking the heaviest hit are merchants in the metropolitan areas, with volume decreasing by as much as 45% (compared to 20% outside metropolitan areas). “With about 26% exposure to food and drink and 17% to retail, we’d expect SQ’s transaction revenues to take a meaningful hit in the first half of 2020,” Hill said. Although the 5-star analyst believes Square is a good business, the current uncertainty is keeping him on the sidelines. Hill added, “SQ is diverting its upcoming ecosystem and brand awareness campaigns to re-prioritize investments that help customers (and potential customers) get through uncertain times. By reprioritizing investments, tightening cost and capital lending controls, and maintaining financial flexibility, SQ seems to be taking the right steps to help customers as well as protect its future. The opportunity set is interesting and large over time, but we must weather the current storm first.” All in all, the Street’s take is split evenly down the middle. 13 Buys and 13 Holds coalesce into a Moderate Buy consensus rating. More aggressive than Hill’s forecast, the average price target comes in at $65.88, and implies potential upside of 24% over the coming months. (See Square stock analysis on TipRanks)
- American City Business Journals
Square cuts revenue guidance, touts Cash App growth amid COVID-19
On a call with investors Square CEO Jack Dorsey said the company's primary business priority is "taking care of our customers" both in terms of providing necessary cash flow as well as additional financial services.
- American City Business Journals
Intuit pledges $8M to help small businesses, consumers hurt by pandemic
Intuit outlined four steps it is taking to help small businesses and other customers who are dealing with economic disruption from the coronavirus outbreak.
- MarketWatch
Square yanks full-year outlook, says volume declines have worsened in recent days
Square Inc. announced Tuesday afternoon that it was pulling its prior full-year outlook due to uncertainties around COVID-19. The company also provided updates on the business from the last few weeks as the coronavirus outbreak began to impact U.S. merchants and consumers. While Square said it saw 47% year-over-year growth in gross profit for January and February, the company began to feel the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic in March. "While the beginning of March was relatively in-line with the company's expectations, over the trailing 10-day period Seller GPV has declined by approximately 25% year over year, with greater declines in recent days," the company said in a release. "This has offset relative strength in the Cash App ecosystem, where the impact on gross profit growth has been less pronounced." Square now expects to post first-quarter net revenue of $1.3 billion to $1.34 billion and gross profit of $515 million to $515 million, an outlook that "assumes a further deceleration in overall GPV through the last week of March, beyond the levels we have seen in recent days." The company had previously called for $1.34 billion to $1.36 billion in total net revenue and $550 million to $560 million in gross profit. The announcement comes as Square's stock posted its largest single-day percentage gain on record in Tuesday's regular session. The company is due to hold an investor conference call at 5 p.m. ET Tuesday, which is taking place in lieu of the Investor Day conference that was scheduled to take place in person before the COVID-19 outbreak forced the cancellation of many live events. Shares of Square were up 2.6% in after-hours trading Tuesday.
- Business Wire
Square Updates First Quarter 2020 Revenue and Gross Profit Outlook for COVID-19
Square (NYSE:SQ) has been closely monitoring the impact of COVID-19 as the environment evolves. The company has focused first on the health and safety of its employees, customers, and local communities, and prioritized investments and products that help address the needs of its customers during this time.
- MarketWatch
Stimulus hopes send Visa, Mastercard stocks toward biggest gains since 2011
Hopes of new economic stimulus measures and an end to temporary business closures are helping jolt payments stocks toward daily gains not seen in roughly a decade.
- MarketWatch
Square stock on track to notch its best trading day on record amid stimulus hopes
Square Inc.'s stock has been battered in recent weeks amid concerns about the impact of COVID-19 and an economic slowdown on the company's small-business customers, but the shares are on track for a big rebound Tuesday as U.S. markets rally on hopes of future stimulus measures. Square's stock is up 19.5% in midday trading Tuesday, which would mark the stock's largest single-day percentage increase on record if the gains hold through the close. Last Monday, the stock notched its worst single-day percentage drop on record. Square has proven a controversial name in the analyst community in recent days, getting some upgrades and at least one downgrade. The company announced last week that it had received conditional approval for an industrial-loan charter that would allow a Square banking subsidiary to provide small-business loans. The stock is off 40% over the past month as the S&P 500 has lost 25%.
- Benzinga
Evercore ISI Upgrades Square's Stock, Says Valuation Is 'Fair & Square'
Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) shares are down more than 52% in the past month, but the stock got a much-needed Wall Street upgrade on Monday.The Square Analyst Evercore ISI analyst Rayna Kumar upgraded Square from Underperform to In Line, but cut her price target from $57 to $39.The Square Thesis Kumar said Square shares have fallen so far from their peak price that they're no longer overvalued."Our revenue & EPS estimates and PT now reflect our Base Case Scenario, which assumes that SQ's GPV growth is 13%, or half of the growth we believe is implied at the high end of SQ's current 2020 financial outlook," Kumar wrote in a note.She said Square's biggest risk during a potential U.S. recession is its high exposure to small and medium-sized businesses, many of which are restaurants and bars. Roughly 45% of Square's gross payment volume comes from businesses with annual volumes of under $125,000. Kumar said that during the Great Recession in 2008 and 2009, roughly 5% of U.S. businesses with less than 500 employees disappeared.See Also: Jack Dorsey's Cash App Gives Away Funds To Users During Coronavirus PandemicIn a base-case scenario, Kumar is projecting 30% Cash App user growth in 2020, a 2.8% take rate and a 1.0% decline in adjusted EBITDA margins. If the impact of COVID-19 is milder than anticipated, the firm has a $48 bull case target. If it is worse, Evercore has a $28 bear case target.The upgrade comes less than a week after Square announced the FDIC conditionally approved the company's application for an Industrial Loan Company charter. The approval allows Square to offer a wide range of new financial services to small businesses and consumers, such as loans and deposits.Bullish sentiment among StockTwits messages mentioning Square was at 70.7% on Monday, down from 97.8% on Feb. 2. SQ Chart by TradingView new TradingView.widget( { "width": 680, "height": 423, "symbol": "NYSE:SQ", "interval": "D", "timezone": "Etc/UTC", "theme": "light", "style": "1", "locale": "en", "toolbar_bg": "f1f3f6", "enable_publishing": false, "allow_symbol_change": true, "container_id": "tradingview_84900" } ); Benzinga's Take The coronavirus outbreak seemingly hasn't changed much about Square's long-term business outlook. The major questions for investors in the near-term is how much of Square's current customer base will be impacted by the economic downturn and how much of that impact is already priced into Square shares.Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.Photo credit: Mybloodtypeiscoffee, via Wikimedia CommonsLatest Ratings for SQ DateFirmActionFromTo Mar 2020Evercore ISI GroupUpgradesUnderperformIn-Line Mar 2020Morgan StanleyMaintainsEqual-Weight Mar 2020KeyBancMaintainsOverweight View More Analyst Ratings for SQ View the Latest Analyst Ratings See more from Benzinga * Roku Vs. Netflix: Needham's Laura Martin Sees A Clear Quarantine Winner * Benzinga CEO Talks Hedging Bets, Dividend Plays On PreMarket Prep * What To Know About The Fed's Limitless Asset Purchase Order(C) 2020 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
- MarketWatch
Square stock gains after analyst says selloff is overdone
Square Inc. shares are up 1% in morning trading Monday after a pair of analysts chimed in on the payments stock. "Our 'worst case' [discounted cash flow model] assumes the adverse trends of the past week persist for several months, driving unprecedented slowdown in volume growth, contracting take rates, slowing Square Capital loans, and a temporary slowdown in Cash App momentum," Macquarie's Dan Dolev wrote. "Despite a slew of negatives, the DCF points to $55-60/share, or 50% upside. Our base case DCF is more upbeat, showing a target price of $78, as accelerating share gains post crisis can drive a rapid recovery in Square's fundamentals." He rates the stock at outperform and called the recent selloff overdone, with Square shares down 53% over the past month as the S&P 500 has lost 32%. Also on Monday, Evercore ISI analyst Rayna Kumar upgraded the stock to in-line from underperform.
- Business Wire
Square to Host Investor Update Call on Tuesday, March 24
Square (NYSE:SQ) announced today that it has updated the format of its previously-scheduled Investor Day and will hold a conference call tomorrow, March 24, 2020 after market close. The conference call will include remarks from Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey and Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja regarding updates on the business and how Square is responding to COVID-19, followed by Q&A.
- American City Business Journals
Small businesses slammed by coronavirus can raise quick cash from loyal customers in fintech initiative
Small businesses feeling a cash squeeze amid shelter-in-place orders can turn to their loyal customers for financial help in a new fintech initiative. Small business lender Kabbage, working with San Francisco fintech Finix Payments, is offering a special website for small business owners to sell gift certificates now for customers to use later. “The impact of COVID-19 on small businesses requires the support of a nation,” said Kabbage CEO Rob Frohwein.
- Bloomberg
Fintechs Seek U.S. Government Funds to Help Make Business Loans
(Bloomberg) -- Financial-technology firms including PayPal Holdings Inc. are lining up to help speed lending to small businesses during the coronavirus crisis -- and are pushing for a slice of emergency U.S. government funding.Industry group Financial Innovation Now urged Congress in a letter to provide capital to online lenders including PayPal and Square Inc., and to permit the firms to disperse Small Businesses Administration loans. The group’s members also include Inuit Inc. and Stripe Inc.“Any federal small-business loan program must leverage digital advances in the marketplace to ensure that stimulus can reach those business most in need,” Financial Innovation Now said in its letter. “Millions of truly small businesses, those most likely to fail in the coming weeks, will not be well-served by loan guarantees made available exclusively through financial institutions.”Last week, President Donald Trump said the SBA would provide low-interest loans in affected states and asked Congress to boost funding for the program by $50 billion. Small businesses are losing 80% to 100% of their revenue amid the pandemic, according to another fintech trade group, Innovative Lending Platform Association.“If they all go out of business, we can’t serve them in the future,” Scott Stewart, chief executive officer of ILPA, said in an interview. “We don’t care about making any money on this, but we want to keep them alive so that when this is all wrapped up we can be lending to them in the long term.”Many small businesses have only 10 days of cash on hand or less, according to Sam Taussig, head of global policy at Kabbage Inc., an online lender. While SBA loans can take as long as 90 days, fintech firms are touting their ability to process loans in days or weeks.A Square spokeswoman declined to comment. PayPal didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.For more articles like this, please visit us at bloomberg.comSubscribe now to stay ahead with the most trusted business news source.©2020 Bloomberg L.P.
- Investopedia
How Square's Cash App Makes Money
Square's Cash App is free to download and its core function is free to use. So how does this app, which has been downloaded more often than Venmo, make money?
