Square
The Cash app's growth has accelerated during the coronavirus due to the increase in digital payments and eCommerce. However, another part of the business has suffered as the coronavirus has caused a lot of pain for small businesses. This has negatively affected Square's credit card processing revenues, although its offset some of these losses with increasing eCommerce sales.
So, while most tech stocks will likely see a deceleration with the economy moving past the coronavirus sometime next year, Square could benefit. There will likely be a huge pent-up demand for people to eat out, shop at retail stores, and support small businesses.
Inside the Numbers
In the third quarter, Square reported $0.34 per share which was a 34% increase from last year. Analysts were looking for $0.16 per share. Revenue grew 140% to top expectations at $3.03 billion, while analysts were looking for $2.07 billion. One of the main contributors to the upside surprise was users buying and selling Bitcoin. Cash App accounted for $2.1 billion in revenue with a gross profit of $385 million.
Subscription and services-based revenue climbed 60% to $448 million which significantly beat estimates of $398.5 million. This is closely watched by investors since it's an indication of Square's recurring revenue and tends to be high-margin services like advertising and consulting. Gross payment volume from merchants on its platform increased by 9% to $31.7 billion. Analysts' consensus was $30 billion.
Stock Price Outlook
Square has a promising outlook for many reasons. Regardless of the coronavirus or the economy, digital payments will continue to grow, and Square is one of the leaders. It also has exposure to cryptocurrency. With bitcoin prices nearing all-time highs, these transactions will likely continue to increase.
While bitcoin revenue is not a high-margin business, it's one way to attract users to its platform. From Alipay and Tencent
Square is up 180% for the year. It's also showing some relative strength vs the broader tech sector as it continues to consolidate in a tight range below its all-time highs. Given Square's exposure to the digital economy and real-world economy, I believe that it will continue moving higher the rest of the year and into 2021.