Block upgraded at BTIG on 'growth opportunities'
Shares of Block (SQ) received an upgrade from BTIG from Neutral to Buy, with the analyst citing strong growth potential from the integration of Cash App and Square ecosystems. The analyst set a price target at $85 for the company.
Yahoo Finance Anchors Rachelle Akuffo and Akiko Fujita break down the latest development for the company and what it could mean for investors moving forward.
For more expert insight and the latest market action, click here to watch this full episode of Yahoo Finance Live.
Editor's note: This article was written by Nicholas Jacobino
Video Transcript
AKIKO FUJITA: Time now for our trending ticker. And today, we are watching shares of Block. Getting a slight lift here after an upgrade from BTIG, with the analysts upgrading the stock from neutral to buy, citing its growth opportunities and bottom line focus as an attractive investment opportunity.
Rachelle, when you think about the analysts here, he has a new price target, $85 a share. That's about, what, 23% upside to where it's trading at right now. A lot of this is about cost discipline, but also about this buildup of the ecosystem for Block. We're talking about the Cash App, Square, as well as Afterpay. Andrew Harte, the analyst, sees that really strengthening the case and making this more of an attractive buy.
RACHELLE AKUFFO: I mean, it's true. When you look at some of the fintech companies or people who perhaps don't have access to a traditional banking, I mean, this makes sense. It's sort of checking all the boxes here. Between the consumer and the merchant, as you mentioned there, you have Square, you have Cash App when it comes to individuals to individuals.
And then when you think about Afterpay, the buy now pay later market, also tapping into the consumer as well. Afterpay doing very well actually in the holiday season as well. And the fact that he's saying that all of these, the greater integration, basically strengthens each of these segments is I think key. It shows the optimism that they have for some of these fintech spaces.
We saw PayPal and Robinhood also doing well on some of that as well, showing that there is still some room to run here for those who aren't perhaps traditionally banked, Akiko.
AKIKO FUJITA: Yeah, Rachelle. Specifically on Cash App, the analyst is saying that he expects this to be a substitute to premier banking. He sees an attractive runway for growth there. And specifically, notes that only about 2 million of the company's 55 million monthly active users are using that company's borrowing/lending feature. So something to watch here as well in terms of Block.
