While most payment solution companies witnessed a marked increase in transaction volumes during the pandemic, Square, Inc. (NYSE: SQ) gained some extra momentum by allowing more bitcoin transactions on its Cash App. That helped the company offset the impact of the downturn caused by coronavirus and the slowdown in its seller-oriented businesses.
Stock Peaks
Earlier this month, shares of the San Francisco-based tech firm reached an all-time high but withdrew pretty quickly and slipped to the pre-peak levels. Experts are of the view that the stock would bounce back from the short-lived dip soon and gain as much as 17% in the next twelve months. SQ has what it takes to create value for shareholders, thanks to the growth opportunities and its strong fundamentals. Even from the short-term perspective, Square is a relatively risk-free investment option.
Read management/analysts’ comments on quarterly reports
In recent quarters, there has been a notable increase in inflows from active customers as the company’s Cash App saw strong adoption. At the end of June, it had more than 40 million monthly transacting active customers, with most of them using multiple products. It seems new features that allow customers to send bitcoins instantly, unlock unique ‘boosts’, and deposit paychecks directly are paying off.
Global Expansion
Moreover, Square’s international expansion is progressing as planned, with focus on product awareness and continued investments in the brand – Australia became the first overseas market for Square Loans, which was launched in that country a few months ago.
However, those initiatives need significant investments and that is going to put additional pressure on the company’s bottom line. In the most recent quarter, operating expenses rose by 64%, with marketing and product development costs being the main contributors to the increase. Another potential headwind is the uncertainties related to bitcoin, which is the management’s primary focus currently.
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By offering central banking tools that integrate seamlessly with seller solutions like payments and Square Payroll, sellers now have a unified view of their payments, balances, expenses, and financing options. We also announced the launch of a new business at Square. Its name is CBD, which will focus on building an open developer platform with the goal of making it easy to create noncustodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services.
Jack Dorsey, chief executive officer of SquareIn the second quarter, net profit more than tripled to 66 cents Earnings also topped the market’s expectations, as they did in the trailing three quarters. At $4.68 billion, net revenues were up 143% year-over-year. The growth was driven by strong performance by the Cash App and Seller ecosystems, together with contributions from the recently acquired TIDAL business.
Afterpay Deal
In a move aimed at enabling further integration between the Seller and Cash App ecosystems, the company is all set to acquire Afterpay Limited, an Australia-based buy-now-pay-later platform, for about $29 billion.
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SQ closed the last session at $268.0, after gaining about 2% during the regular trading hours. The shares have gained about 21% in the past eight months and mostly stayed above their long-term average in recent months.