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Square (SQ) to Report Q4 Earnings: What's in the Offing?

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Square, Inc. (SQ - Free Report) is scheduled to report fourth-quarter 2020 results on Feb 23.

For the fourth quarter, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for revenues is pegged at $3.1 billion, suggesting growth of 136.2% from the prior-year quarter’s reported figure.

Further, the Zacks Consensus Estimate for fourth-quarter earnings is pegged at 23 cents per share, suggesting flat with the year-ago reported figure.

The company surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters and missed the same once. It has a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 99.91%, on average.

Square, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

 

Square, Inc. Price and EPS Surprise

Square, Inc. price-eps-surprise | Square, Inc. Quote

Key Factors to Note

The company’s comprehensive commerce ecosystem, which helps it in attracting new sellers and retaining existing ones, is likely to have strengthened the seller base in the quarter to be reported.

Further, Square’s robust product portfolio is expected to have driven top-line growth in the fourth quarter.

Moreover, integrations among the company’s product lines, which deliver enhanced user experience, are expected to have contributed to seller base growth in the to-be-reported quarter.

Additionally, Square’s omni-channel offerings, which help sellers in creating differentiated customer experience on the back of customerinsights by managing orders from the point of sale and eliminating manual aggregation of online and in-person orders, are anticipated tohave added strength to the seller base.

In the quarter under review, all these factors are likely to have accelerated the company’s gross payment volume, which is a key growth metric for the company.

Hence, impacts of these are likely to get reflected in fourth-quarter revenues.

However, higher investments and increasing product development expenses are anticipated to have weighed on Square’s fourth-quarter profitability.

Furthermore, uncertainties related to the ongoing pandemic are expected to have been headwinds. Accumulating reserves for transaction and loan losses, owing to the expected impact of the coronavirus pandemic on losses in the future, are expected to have been concerning.

What Our Model Says

Our proven model does not conclusively predictanearnings beat for Square this time around. The combination of a positive Earnings ESP and a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), 2 (Buy) or 3 (Hold) increases the odds of an earnings beat. You can uncover the best stocks to buy or sell before they’re reported with our Earnings ESP Filter.

Square has an Earnings ESP of -5.64% and a Zacks Rank #3.

Stocks to Consider

Here are some companies worth considering, which have the right combination of elements to beat on earnings this quarter:

Workday, Inc. (WDAY - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.16% and a Zacks Rank #2. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (CRWD - Free Report) presently has an Earnings ESP of +57.75% and a Zacks Rank of 2.

Sapiens International Corporation (SPNS - Free Report) currently has an Earnings ESP of +1.96% and is Zacks #3 Ranked.

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