Financial technology firm Block (SQ) has reported first-quarter financial results that beat Wall Street forecasts on both the top and bottom lines, sending the stock up 7% as a result.
The company announced earnings per share (EPS) of $0.85 U.S. versus $0.72 U.S. that was estimated among analysts. The profit more than quadrupled from a year ago.
Revenue in the quarter totaled $5.96 billion U.S. versus $5.82 billion U.S. that was expected on Wall Street.
Block also raised its forward guidance, saying it expects earnings in the second quarter of $690 million U.S., up from a previous forecast of $670 million U.S.
The company’s Cash App business, Block’s mobile payment platform that is popular among small businesses, reported $1.26 billion U.S. in gross profit, a 25% year-over-year increase.
Block added that its Cash App monthly active users reached 24 million in March of this year.
Block is focused on integrating Afterpay, the buy now, pay later company it bought for $29 billion U.S. in 2021. Afterpay has struggled since the takeover, posting losses.
Consequently, Block has cutback its operations, laying off workers in several rounds since last December.
Under the direction of chief executive officer (CEO) Jack Dorsey, Block has also invested heavily in Bitcoin (BTC) in recent years.
In its Q1 earnings report, Block said that the $220 million U.S. the company invested in Bitcoin had grown 160% to $573 million U.S. at the end of this year’s first quarter.
Prior to today (May 3), Block’s stock had risen 19% in the last 12 months to $70.30 U.S. per share.
