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Block XYZ Q2 Earnings report
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Block’s guidance hike sends shares higher

It’s the company’s first earnings report as a member of the S&P 500, which it joined last month.

Block, the fintech firm run by Twitter founder and general tech eccentric Jack Dorsey, rose after the company boosted its guidance, overshadowing revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations.

Block — which sells credit card readers, payment software, and banking services to merchants through its well-known Cash App, as well as investing in bitcoin for its own account — reported:

  • Q2 adjusted earnings per share of $0.62 vs. the $0.47 the company reported in Q2 2024.

  • Revenues of $6.05 billion vs. the $6.29 billion analysts had forecast.

  • Transaction-based revenue of $1.82 billion vs. estimates for $1.81 billion.

  • Bitcoin segment revenue of $2.14 billion vs. Wall Street’s $2.48 billion estimate.

  • New full-year gross profit guidance of $10.17 billion, up from the guidance of $9.96 billion the company offered in May.

Thursday’s numbers are an important test for Block (previously known as Square until a late 2021 rebrand), which plunged last quarter after reporting worse-than-expected results. Through the close of trading on Thursday, the stock had been up 60% since then, as the resilience of the economy seemed to reassure the market about the health of Block’s payments business. The recovery of cryptocurrency prices — Block owns bitcoin that it both uses for its own bitcoin sales business and holds as an investment — over that period has also lifted the shares.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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