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

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In the latest trading session, Block (SQ - Free Report) closed at $62.36, marking a -0.81% move from the previous day. This move lagged the S&P 500's daily loss of 0.6%. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.33%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 2.87%.

Coming into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had lost 13.46% in the past month. In that same time, the Business Services sector gained 2.84%, while the S&P 500 gained 6.22%.

Block will be looking to display strength as it nears its next earnings release, which is expected to be May 4, 2023. 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 $4.58 billion, up 15.54% from the prior-year quarter.

For the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates are projecting earnings of $1.63 per share and revenue of $19.76 billion, which would represent changes of +63% and +12.68%, respectively, from the prior year.

Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for Block. These revisions help to show the ever-changing nature of near-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company's business and profitability.

Our research shows that these estimate changes are directly correlated with near-term stock prices. 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 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 86.36% lower within the past month. Block is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).

Digging into valuation, Block currently has a Forward P/E ratio of 38.55. This represents a premium compared to its industry's average Forward P/E of 20.33.

Meanwhile, SQ's PEG ratio is currently 1.86. 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 Technology Services was holding an average PEG ratio of 1.82 at yesterday's closing price.

The Technology Services industry is part of the Business Services sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 150, putting it in the bottom 41% of all 250+ industries.

The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our individual 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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