Square. A really sexy cash register... It looked more like a wad of street cash Wednesday. Shares fell 6% after Square reported a big loss and slowing revenue growth. Tough combo.
It's all over your money... Square launched with dongles to let farmers markets accept credit cards for beets. Then it evolved into sleek iPad-connected credit card swipers for your morning latte routine. But it's blown up into a whole financial services beast for small business. Now it's even curious about consumer finance:
- 🏦 Square Capital: If your barbershop clippers broke so you need some cash, Square's there. It inked 70K loans last quarter worth $508M, up 50%.
- 💻 Subscriptions: Its main money-maker. Barbershops can pay monthly for software to handle the accounting books.
- 🤪 Cash App: Square Cash has been on top of Venmo in the App Store for a while, offering pretty much the same peer-to-peer payment app.
- 🍤 Other bets: Well-bearded CEO Jack Dorsey (also CEO of Twitter) is hiring crypto engineers. And Square owns Caviar, the gourmet-endowed food delivery app.
Square suddenly decided to do everything... Its stock rose from $12 at its 2015 IPO to $100 last fall, as it shockingly reached a profit (fast for a fast-growing tech company). But the stock has fallen as losses return. Those bets above show Square's big consumer and crypto ambitions. Reaching them costs $$$.