In the latest trading session, Square (SQ) closed at $61.53, marking a -0.68% move from the previous day. This move was narrower than the S&P 500’s daily loss of 1.23%. At the same time, the Dow lost 1.28%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq lost 1.13%.
Heading into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 0.18% over the past month, lagging the Computer and Technology sector’s gain of 1.53% and the S&P 500’s gain of 1.95% in that time.
Investors will be hoping for strength from SQ as it approaches its next earnings release. In that report, analysts expect SQ to post earnings of $0.20 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 53.85%. Meanwhile, our latest consensus estimate is calling for revenue of $1.19 billion, up 35.37% from the prior-year quarter.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.77 per share and revenue of $4.55 billion. These totals would mark changes of +63.83% and +37.86%, respectively, from last year.
Investors might also notice recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. Recent revisions tend to reflect the latest near-term business trends. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company’s business outlook.
Research indicates that these estimate revisions are directly correlated with near-term share price momentum. Investors can capitalize on this by using the Zacks Rank. This model considers these estimate changes and provides a simple, actionable rating system.
The Zacks Rank system, which ranges from #1 (Strong Buy) to #5 (Strong Sell), has an impressive outside-audited track record of outperformance, with #1 stocks generating an average annual return of +25% since 1988. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate remained stagnant within the past month. SQ currently has a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
In terms of valuation, SQ is currently trading at a Forward P/E ratio of 80.59. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 55, which means SQ is trading at a premium to the group.
Meanwhile, SQ’s PEG ratio is currently 3.22. The PEG ratio is similar to the widely-used P/E ratio, but this metric also takes the company’s expected earnings growth rate into account. The Internet – Software industry currently had an average PEG ratio of 2.55 as of yesterday’s close.
The Internet – Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This industry currently has a Zacks Industry Rank of 107, which puts it in the top 42% of all 250+ industries.
The Zacks Industry Rank gauges the strength of our industry groups by measuring the average Zacks Rank of the individual stocks within the groups. Our research shows that the top 50% rated industries outperform the bottom half by a factor of 2 to 1.
You can find more information on all of these metrics, and much more, on Zacks.com.
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