Yahoo Finance Square (SQ) Gains As Market Dips: What You Should Know
Square (SQ) closed the most recent trading day at $90.12, moving +1.53% from the previous trading session. This change outpaced the S&P 500's 0.22% loss on the day. Meanwhile, the Dow lost 0.31%, and the Nasdaq, a tech-heavy index, lost 0.26%.
Coming into today, shares of the mobile payments services provider had gained 27.62% in the past month. In that same time, the Computer and Technology sector gained 0.1%, while the S&P 500 gained 1.28%.
Investors will be hoping for strength from SQ as it approaches its next earnings release, which is expected to be November 14, 2018. In that report, analysts expect SQ to post earnings of $0.11 per share. This would mark year-over-year growth of 57.14%. Our most recent consensus estimate is calling for quarterly revenue of $860.52 million, up 47.06% from the year-ago period.
Looking at the full year, our Zacks Consensus Estimates suggest analysts are expecting earnings of $0.45 per share and revenue of $3.23 billion. These totals would mark changes of +66.67% and +45.72%, respectively, from last year.
It is also important to note the recent changes to analyst estimates for SQ. These revisions typically reflect the latest short-term business trends, which can change frequently. As a result, we can interpret positive estimate revisions as a good sign for the company's business outlook.
Based on our research, we believe these estimate revisions are directly related to near-team stock moves. 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 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. The Zacks Consensus EPS estimate has moved 11.43% lower within the past month. SQ is currently sporting a Zacks Rank of #3 (Hold).
Investors should also note SQ's current valuation metrics, including its Forward P/E ratio of 195.79. For comparison, its industry has an average Forward P/E of 67.82, which means SQ is trading at a premium to the group.
Also, we should mention that SQ has a PEG ratio of 7.83. 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. SQ's industry had an average PEG ratio of 4.36 as of yesterday's close.
The Internet - Software industry is part of the Computer and Technology sector. This group has a Zacks Industry Rank of 95, putting it in the top 37% 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.
Make sure to utilize Zacks. Com to follow all of these stock-moving metrics, and more, in the coming trading sessions.
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Square, Inc. (SQ) : Free Stock Analysis Report
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