Block (SQ) Earnings: Former Square beats estimates on EPS, revenue

UPDATE: The payments company formerly known as Square turned in a decent quarter. The renamed Block needed it since its stock, SQ, is down 45% year to date. Block reported adjusted EPS of $0.27 on $4.08 billion. Wall Street had expected $0.22 per share on $4.06 billion.

Block (SQ), formerly known as Square, is set to announce Q4 earnings on Thursday, February 24. The earnings reveal comes at a time when the company's stock has given up just about all of its pandemic heights. SQ shares closed below $100 on Friday for the first time since June 2020. SQ stock is down 39.5% YTD and 66% since July 2021 when it traded as high as $289.

Block Stock News: Worries over missing estimates

The market did not like when Block missed earnings estimates for the third quarter. On November 4, 2021, the former Square missed adjusted earnings per share (EPS) by one cent but revenue by $650 million or 14.5%. The next day the stock closed more than 4% lower, and that began the series of cascading sell-offs that led SQ shares to close below $100 this past Friday.

Since that most recent earnings call, forecasts for the payments company's upcoming EPS have been revised lower on 13 occasions and only revised upward once. This time around analysts place consensus non-GAAP EPS at $0.23 on $4.06 billion.

Investors will be watching to see how much Bitcoin transactions contribute to the bottom line. Its Cash App unit has relied heavily on BTC transactions for growth, but the fourth quarter saw the BTC price drop from $68,000 to $46,000. Another thing to pay attention to is where Block's debt position is now. At the end of the third quarter, Block had $5.9 billion in debt. The Afterpay acquisition was an all-stock deal, but the company may be incurring heavy costs related to the endeavor.

Block Stock Forecast: Trying to find support at $87

SQ shares have now broken through the $100 level, significant for its psychological value and its offering of serious support in the previous three weeks. On the weekly chart, the second, third and fourth to last candles are all dojis, which demonstrate indecision in price action. Translation: the market was really pushing to keep Square price above $100.

Now that it is below, expect shares to find support in the demand zone between $84 and $87. This region first provided resistance in January 2020 before the pandemic and then as support in June of that year once the rally got going. Underneath this point, there is no serious support until the area around $60. SQ stock will remain in a bear stance until its closes above $119, the range high from February 10.

SQ 1-week chart

---