Shares in Block surge on strong Q4 earnings beat

Share in Block Inc. surged after-hours today after the company, previously known as Square Inc., beat predictions in its quarterly earnings report.

For the quarter ending Dec. 31, Block reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization of $184 million or 27 cents per share, up 29% year-over-year on revenue of $4.07 billion, up 47%.

Analysts had been expecting EPS of 22 cents on revenue of $4.03 billion.

Block’s Cash App generated $2.07 billion in gross profit in the quarter, up 69% year-over-year and the company’s Square ecosystem generated $2.32 billion in gross profit, up 29%. Within Cash App, the figure included $1.96 billion in bitcoin sales that delivered a profit of $46 million.

In the quarter, subscription and services-based revenue came in at $772 million, up 72% while gross payment volume grew to $46.3 billion, up 8%. Block’s other category, which includes the music service TIDAL the company acquired in March, accounted for $56 million for a profit of $7 million.

For the full year 2021, Block reported EPS of $1.71 on total revenue of $17.66 billion, up 86% year-over-year. Excluding bitcoin, revenue for the year was $7.65 billion, up 55%. Gross profit for the year was $4.42 billion, up 62%. Cash App generated $2.07 billion in gross profit while the Square ecosystem generated $2.32 billion.

While Block’s quarterly figures were positive, the company’s outlook also had investors excited. While Block did not provide any solid revenue estimates, it did cover expected growth rates in the quarter ahead.

Block predicted that Square’s gross product volume will be up 35% year-over-year but did note that growth experience a slowdown in January. The slowdown was attributed to the omicron COVID-19 variant, with the company adding that growth subsequently recovered in February.

Cash App is expected to see gross profit grow on a year-over-year basis in January and February, driven by growth in monthly transacting activities, engagement and inflows into cash app.

The last comment covered Block’s acquisition of Afterpay Ltd. The deal was announced in August and closed on Jan. 31. Block noted that it will include Afterpay in its first-quarter earnings reports for the months of February and March.

Block’s share price surged as much as 25% after the bell to settle to being up 18.43% to $112.50 as of 8 p.m. EST.

Image: Block