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Square (SQ) Boosts Business Solutions With Crew Acquisition

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Square (SQ - Free Report) has acquired Crew in a bid to bolster workforce management solutions and offer a better team communication platform to business owners.

Crew is a frontline employee management platform that deals with hourly labor operations. The platform focuses on connecting employees in a streamlined manner.

The acquisition will enable Square to offer sellers a single destination for day-to-day employee management operations including messaging, scheduling, tracking and paying employees.

The latest move by Square has strengthened its business solutions offerings.

The company already provides a Team Management platform consisting of workforce management tools to its sellers. Now, it has added a workplace messaging platform to its business offerings by the latest acquisition.

Various Prospects Bode Well for Square

The global workforce management market is witnessing an upswing amid the coronavirus pandemic. This is due to the growing adoption of employee management solutions by businesses across the globe as they have enforced the work from home (WFH) initiative for employees.

As businesses are looking for effective workforce management solutions to improve productivity and sustain growth from the WFH initiative, the companies offering these services are growing focus on innovative and effective solutions. This is driving the market further.

According to a report by Research Dive, revenues generated from this market are likely to hit $9.58 billion by 2027, witnessing a CAGR of 10.6% between 2020 and 2027.

Due to this growing market, enterprises have increased the adoption of advanced web and mobile applications with technologies including artificial intelligence and Internet of Things for efficient employee interaction. This in turn, is driving the employee communication software market.

Per a report by ResearchAndMarkets, this global market is likely to hit $1.78 billion by 2027, registering a CAGR of 11.8% from 2020 to 2027.

We note that the latest acquisition poises Square well to capitalize on the abovementioned prospects.

Square’s Expanding Solutions Portfolio

Square is making strong efforts to expand its portfolio of solutions for helping businesses and individual sellers gain customers online and in person, manage their business, and access financing. The recent acquisition is a step forward in this direction.

In mid-May, the company announced three new developer tools - Snippets API, Web Payments SDK and Loyalty API. While Snippets API is developed to help sellers engage their customers online in interactive ways, Web Payments SDK and Loyalty API extend the benefits of online selling.

In late April, Square introduced Automated Clearing House payments on Square Invoices, which is expected to offer efficient payment solutions to both businesses and customers.

In the same month, the company also introduced new features in inventory management for Square for Retail including easy item create, quick inventory counting and smart stock alerts, which are expected to aid retailers for efficient inventory control.

Further, the company’s introduction of a new feature, Shift Scheduling, to its suite of labour management tools remains noteworthy.

We believe that these endeavors are likely to drive its momentum across the seller ecosystem.

However, uncertainties related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic remain major concerns for the company.

Zacks Rank & Stocks to Consider

Currently, Square carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).

Some better-ranked stocks in the broader technology sector include Digital Turbine (APPS - Free Report) , Mimecast Limited and CrowdStrike Holdings (CRWD - Free Report) . While Digital Turbine sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Mimecast and CrowdStrike carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Long-term earnings growth rates for Digital Turbine, Mimecast and CrowdStrike are currently projected at 50%, 35% and 25%, respectively.


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