Square (SQ) closed at $50.30 in the latest trading session, marking a -0.24% move from the prior day. This move lagged the S&P 500’s daily loss of 0.16%. At the same time, the Dow lost 0.12%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 0.33%.
Prior to today’s trading, shares of the mobile payments services provider had lost 23.29% over the past month. This has lagged the Computer and Technology sector’s loss of 7.54% and the S&P 500’s loss of 10.5% in that time.
Wall Street will be looking for positivity from SQ as it approaches its next earnings report date. On that day, SQ is projected to report earnings of $0.14 per share, which would represent year-over-year growth of 27.27%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.30 billion, up 35.76% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.70 per share and revenue of $5.36 billion. These totals would mark changes of -12.5% and +13.8%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. These recent revisions tend to reflect the evolving nature of short-term business trends. As such, positive estimate revisions reflect analyst optimism about the company’s business and profitability.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. To benefit from this, we have developed the Zacks Rank, a proprietary model which takes these estimate changes into account and provides an actionable rating system.
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. Over the past month, the Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 150% lower. SQ is currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, SQ is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 72.43. This represents a premium compared to its industry’s average Forward P/E of 36.23.
Investors should also note that SQ has a PEG ratio of 3 right now. This metric is used similarly to the famous P/E ratio, but the PEG ratio also takes into account the stock’s expected earnings growth rate. Internet – Software stocks are, on average, holding a PEG ratio of 2.33 based on yesterday’s closing prices.
