Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) Expected to Announce Quarterly Sales of $4.59 Billion

Wall Street brokerages forecast that Square, Inc. (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) will post sales of $4.54 billion for the current fiscal quarter, according to Zacks. Ten analysts have issued estimates for Square’s earnings, with the lowest sales estimate coming in at $4.03 billion and the highest estimate coming in at $4.90 billion. Square posted sales of $4.68 billion during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year over year growth rate of 3%. The business is expected to announce its next earnings report on Monday, January 1st.

On average, analysts expect that Square will report full-year sales of $18.61 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $17.85 billion to $20.13 billion. For the next year, analysts anticipate that the company will report sales of $23.06 billion, with estimates ranging from $21.31 billion to $25.08 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales averages are an average based on a survey of analysts that follow Square.

Square (NYSE:SQ – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 5th. The technology company reported $0.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.20 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.96 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.14 billion. Square had a negative net margin of 0.46% and a positive return on equity of 1.62%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.41 earnings per share.

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Square in a research report on Wednesday, March 23rd. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $146.00 price objective on the stock. Citigroup assumed coverage on shares of Square in a research report on Friday, February 11th. They set a “buy” rating and a $220.00 price objective on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Square from $209.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 25th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Square from $322.00 to $178.00 in a report on Tuesday, March 1st. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price target on shares of Square from $310.00 to $210.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 25th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Square has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $195.67.

In related news, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 5,051 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.79, for a total transaction of $716,181.29. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 128,744 shares in the company, valued at $18,254,611.76. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO Amrita Ahuja sold 2,680 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.79, for a total value of $379,997.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 121,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,221,955.19. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 19,783 shares of company stock worth $2,459,562. Company insiders own 15.12% of the company’s stock.

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Square by 0.4% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 2,105,201 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $504,910,000 after buying an additional 8,938 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors acquired a new position in Square during the third quarter worth $452,024,000. Carmignac Gestion boosted its stake in Square by 360.1% during the third quarter. Carmignac Gestion now owns 1,173,938 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $281,552,000 after buying an additional 918,801 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its stake in Square by 4.1% during the third quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,083,018 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $259,751,000 after buying an additional 42,324 shares during the last quarter. Finally, New York State Common Retirement Fund boosted its stake in Square by 10.0% during the first quarter. New York State Common Retirement Fund now owns 963,857 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $130,699,000 after buying an additional 87,461 shares during the last quarter. 54.56% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Shares of SQ stock opened at $84.39 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $48.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -562.56 and a beta of 2.38. Square has a one year low of $80.39 and a one year high of $289.23. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $117.34 and its 200-day moving average price is $149.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.38, a current ratio of 1.94 and a quick ratio of 1.94.

About Square (Get Rating)

Square, Inc provides payment and point-of-sale solutions in the United States and internationally. The company's commerce ecosystem includes point-of-sale software and hardware that enables sellers to turn mobile and computing devices into payment and point-of-sale solutions. It offers hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts EMV® chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Chip card reader, which accepts EMV® chip cards and enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; and Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology, as well as managed payments solutions.

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