Back to top

Image: Bigstock

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

Read MoreHide Full Article

In the latest trading session, Square (SQ - Free Report) closed at $227.75, marking a -1.39% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.2%.

Coming into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 13.81% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 7.19%, while the S&P 500 gained 2.11%.

Wall Street will be looking for positivity from SQ as it approaches its next earnings report date. The company is expected to report EPS of $0.31, up 72.22% from the prior-year quarter. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $4.86 billion, up 152.67% from the prior-year quarter.

Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $1.50 per share and revenue of $19.65 billion. These totals would mark changes of +78.57% and +106.89%, respectively, from last year.

Any recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ should also be noted by investors. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.

The Zacks Rank system ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell). It has a remarkable, outside-audited track record of success, with #1 stocks delivering an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 2.09% higher within the past month. SQ is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Valuation is also important, so investors should note that SQ has a Forward P/E ratio of 154.22 right now. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 72.05.

We can also see that SQ currently has a PEG ratio of 3.27. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company's expected earnings growth rate into account. The Internet - Software was holding an average PEG ratio of 3.36 at yesterday's closing price.

The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 212, which puts it in the bottom 17% 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.

Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.


See More Zacks Research for These Tickers


Normally $25 each - click below to receive one report FREE:


Block, Inc. (SQ) - free report >>

Published in