Jack Dorsey's Block Pushes Into Banking as Stock Price Tumbles
Despite her loyalty, the 35-year-old content creator has remained immune to the company's efforts to turn customers like her into users of its banking services.
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Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meet the Newest Growth Stock Joining the S&P 500. It's Up 73% Since the Start of May, but It's Not Too Late to Buy.
Key Points The S&P 500 is getting a shake-up with the addition of a new fintech stock. While the stock's growth has slowed considerably over the last few years, management plans to increase marketing to grow. The business should exhibit strong economies of scale, leading to high earnings growth over the long run. 10 stocks we like better than Block › While many think of the S&P 500 as an index of unchanging companies that have stood the test of time, the truth is the index is constantly in flux. The committee in charge of determining the 500 companies included in the index is constantly evaluating its members and ensuring they maintain a set of standards required for inclusion. If a company becomes unprofitable or declines in value too much, the committee will replace it with a more deserving company when it reconstitutes the index every quarter Another instance when the committee will add new stocks to the index is when one of the companies gets acquired, delisting their stock from the market. Such was the case earlier in July, which led to The Trade Desk's inclusion in the index. Just a week later, the committee added Block (NYSE: XYZ) to replace Hess following the latter's acquisition by Chevron. Despite a big jump in Block's stock price on the news, building on a considerable increase in its share price since the start of May, investors can still buy shares of the company at a fair price. Here's what you need to know. Refocusing on profitable growth After incredibly strong adoption for both of its financial products on the consumer and seller sides during the pandemic, Block has experienced a bit of a hangover. In fact, it's seen a marked deceleration in its gross profits (a more fitting metric than revenue for the business) over the last year. Its first-quarter gross profit growth came in at just 9% -- the fourth straight quarter of decelerating gross profits, down from 22% growth in the year-ago period. The challenge isn't isolated to Square (its seller service) or Cash App (its consumer service). Both have seen considerable slowdowns. Management has plans to turn things around in the second half of the year. It's rolling out Cash App Borrow nationwide, based on its acquisition of Afterpay. It expects to be able to increase loan limits and reduce defaults using its wealth of consumer data and machine learning algorithms. It's also planning to increase its marketing spend, focusing on niche customers like teens and their families. Meanwhile, it continues to roll out new features and products for Square to grow revenue and improve retention. Despite the slowdown in its top line, Block has managed to improve its profitability, boosting its earnings per share (EPS). Adjusted operating income grew 28% year over year in Q1 on the back of margin expansion. While the step-up in marketing for Cash App will weigh on its margins, it should help reaccelerate its top line. And that's still a big opportunity for Block. Management estimates the total addressable market for Square is $130 billion and $75 billion for Cash App. While it's focused on small segments of each market, it's still underpenetrated with just $9 billion of gross profit over the past year. While increased marketing spend will pressure profitability in the near term, the nature of Block's core businesses benefit from scale with minimal marginal operating costs. That should produce strong earnings growth over the long run. A fair price for a fintech leader With big opportunity ahead for the company, investors interested in fintech stocks should consider adding Block to their portfolio. As of this writing, the stock trades for just under 30 times forward adjusted earnings estimates. As the company reaccelerates its top-line growth to double digits over the next few quarters, it should put itself on a path to sustain that pace over the long run. As long as it maintains cost discipline, it should see strong margin expansion over time as it scales. That should lead to strong EPS growth, justifying the current price. On top of the fintech business, investors also get access to a Bitcoin business. The company generates a small amount of revenue from the spread on Bitcoin sales through Cash App. It also owns Bitkey, a self-custody Bitcoin wallet, and Proto, a suite of Bitcoin mining products and services. Management expects the latter to contribute to gross profit starting this year. Additionally, it holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. While Bitcoin represents a tiny piece of Block's business today, it could provide strong upside if there's broader adoption of the cryptocurrency. In the meantime, the core fintech business looks poised to bounce back from its recent downturn. While the increase in stock price reflects growing investor confidence in the turnaround efforts, there's still time for investors to buy the stock at the current price. Should you invest $1,000 in Block right now? Before you buy stock in Block, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Block wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Adam Levy has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Block, Chevron, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Meet the Newest Growth Stock Joining the S&P 500. It's Up 73% Since the Start of May, but It's Not Too Late to Buy. was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
8 hours ago
- Yahoo
Meet the Newest Growth Stock Joining the S&P 500. It's Up 73% Since the Start of May, but It's Not Too Late to Buy.
Key Points The S&P 500 is getting a shake-up with the addition of a new fintech stock. While the stock's growth has slowed considerably over the last few years, management plans to increase marketing to grow. The business should exhibit strong economies of scale, leading to high earnings growth over the long run. 10 stocks we like better than Block › While many think of the S&P 500 as an index of unchanging companies that have stood the test of time, the truth is the index is constantly in flux. The committee in charge of determining the 500 companies included in the index is constantly evaluating its members and ensuring they maintain a set of standards required for inclusion. If a company becomes unprofitable or declines in value too much, the committee will replace it with a more deserving company when it reconstitutes the index every quarter Another instance when the committee will add new stocks to the index is when one of the companies gets acquired, delisting their stock from the market. Such was the case earlier in July, which led to The Trade Desk's inclusion in the index. Just a week later, the committee added Block (NYSE: XYZ) to replace Hess following the latter's acquisition by Chevron. Despite a big jump in Block's stock price on the news, building on a considerable increase in its share price since the start of May, investors can still buy shares of the company at a fair price. Here's what you need to know. Refocusing on profitable growth After incredibly strong adoption for both of its financial products on the consumer and seller sides during the pandemic, Block has experienced a bit of a hangover. In fact, it's seen a marked deceleration in its gross profits (a more fitting metric than revenue for the business) over the last year. Its first-quarter gross profit growth came in at just 9% -- the fourth straight quarter of decelerating gross profits, down from 22% growth in the year-ago period. The challenge isn't isolated to Square (its seller service) or Cash App (its consumer service). Both have seen considerable slowdowns. Management has plans to turn things around in the second half of the year. It's rolling out Cash App Borrow nationwide, based on its acquisition of Afterpay. It expects to be able to increase loan limits and reduce defaults using its wealth of consumer data and machine learning algorithms. It's also planning to increase its marketing spend, focusing on niche customers like teens and their families. Meanwhile, it continues to roll out new features and products for Square to grow revenue and improve retention. Despite the slowdown in its top line, Block has managed to improve its profitability, boosting its earnings per share (EPS). Adjusted operating income grew 28% year over year in Q1 on the back of margin expansion. While the step-up in marketing for Cash App will weigh on its margins, it should help reaccelerate its top line. And that's still a big opportunity for Block. Management estimates the total addressable market for Square is $130 billion and $75 billion for Cash App. While it's focused on small segments of each market, it's still underpenetrated with just $9 billion of gross profit over the past year. While increased marketing spend will pressure profitability in the near term, the nature of Block's core businesses benefit from scale with minimal marginal operating costs. That should produce strong earnings growth over the long run. A fair price for a fintech leader With big opportunity ahead for the company, investors interested in fintech stocks should consider adding Block to their portfolio. As of this writing, the stock trades for just under 30 times forward adjusted earnings estimates. As the company reaccelerates its top-line growth to double digits over the next few quarters, it should put itself on a path to sustain that pace over the long run. As long as it maintains cost discipline, it should see strong margin expansion over time as it scales. That should lead to strong EPS growth, justifying the current price. On top of the fintech business, investors also get access to a Bitcoin business. The company generates a small amount of revenue from the spread on Bitcoin sales through Cash App. It also owns Bitkey, a self-custody Bitcoin wallet, and Proto, a suite of Bitcoin mining products and services. Management expects the latter to contribute to gross profit starting this year. Additionally, it holds Bitcoin on its balance sheet. While Bitcoin represents a tiny piece of Block's business today, it could provide strong upside if there's broader adoption of the cryptocurrency. In the meantime, the core fintech business looks poised to bounce back from its recent downturn. While the increase in stock price reflects growing investor confidence in the turnaround efforts, there's still time for investors to buy the stock at the current price. Should you invest $1,000 in Block right now? Before you buy stock in Block, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Block wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $636,628!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $1,063,471!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 1,041% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 183% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join Stock Advisor. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of July 28, 2025 Adam Levy has positions in Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin, Block, Chevron, and The Trade Desk. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Meet the Newest Growth Stock Joining the S&P 500. It's Up 73% Since the Start of May, but It's Not Too Late to Buy. was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Android Authority
11 hours ago
- Android Authority
CashApp's cross-platform Pool tool means none of your friends have an excuse for not pitching in
Edgar Cervantes / Android Authority TL;DR Cash App is rolling out a new feature called 'Pools.' Pools is a group payment feature that allows people to chip in money toward a large payment, whether they use the app, Google Pay, or Apple Pay. Members can be invited to a Pool in-app via their $cashtag or through a shareable link for external payments. Rounding up people for a group purchase can be a hassle, especially if some of those people use different payment apps. However, Cash App is introducing a new feature that could make the process a little more seamless for everybody. Today, Block, the owner of Cash App, announced the launch of a feature called 'Pools.' True to its name, Pools is a group payment feature that allows you to invite people to chip in towards a group purchase, like a group vacation. A pool can be created by going to Cash App payment tab. What stands out about this feature is that you'll be able to invite Google Pay and Apple Pay users to contribute, in addition to other Cash App users. Members can be invited to a Pool in-app via their $cashtag. For those who use Google Pay or Apple Pay, you'll be able to send them a shareable link they can use to contribute to the pool. In addition to sending out invites, the organizer can name the pool and set a target amount. They'll also have the ability to close the pool, transfer the money to their balance, and make the purchase. At the moment, Pools is only available to a select group of Cash App users. However, Block says it has plans to expand availability to all users in the coming months. Once availability opens up, it should prove to be a useful tool for those who have friends who use other payment apps. Follow
