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Square (SQ) Dips More Than Broader Markets: What You Should Know

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Square (SQ - Free Report) closed at $77.38 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.6% move from the prior day. This change lagged the S&P 500's 0.09% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow gained 0.03%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.16%.

Heading into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 2.94% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector's gain of 4.21% and outpacing the S&P 500's gain of 2.35% in that time.

SQ will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release. On that day, SQ is projected to report earnings of $0.08 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 33.33%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $936.45 million, up 40.06% from the prior-year quarter.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.

Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. We developed the Zacks Rank to capitalize on this phenomenon. Our system takes these estimate changes into account and delivers a clear, actionable rating model.

The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 74.6% higher within the past month. SQ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #2 (Buy).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that SQ has a Forward P/E ratio of 105.56 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 58.3.

Meanwhile, SQ's PEG ratio is currently 4.22. This popular metric is similar to the widely-known P/E ratio, with the difference being that the PEG ratio also takes into account the company's expected earnings growth rate. The Internet - Software industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 3.15 as of yesterday's close.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 82, putting it in the top 33% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.

Be sure to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and many more, on Zacks.com.


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