Block’s (XYZ) “Overweight” Rating Reaffirmed at Cantor Fitzgerald

Block (NYSE:XYZ)‘s stock had its “overweight” rating restated by stock analysts at Cantor Fitzgerald in a research note issued on Friday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $70.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock. Cantor Fitzgerald’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.36% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup cut their price objective on Block from $105.00 to $85.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $90.00 target price on shares of Block in a research note on Thursday, November 20th. BNP Paribas Exane upgraded shares of Block from a “hold” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $83.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $95.00 price objective on shares of Block in a report on Thursday, November 20th. Finally, Compass Point upgraded shares of Block from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, November 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Block presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $82.47.

Block Stock Up 16.3%

XYZ traded up $8.90 during trading on Friday, hitting $63.43. 6,760,992 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,860,739. Block has a fifty-two week low of $44.27 and a fifty-two week high of $82.50. The stock has a market cap of $38.54 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.67, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 2.67. The business’s 50 day moving average is $61.30 and its two-hundred day moving average is $68.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.25.

Block (NYSE:XYZ) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 26th. The technology company reported $0.65 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $6.25 billion for the quarter. Block had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 5.54%. Block’s revenue was up 3.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Block will post 2.54 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Block

In other news, CAO Ajmere Dale sold 1,173 shares of Block stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $65.09, for a total transaction of $76,350.57. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 98,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,405,637.08. The trade was a 1.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Brian Grassadonia sold 10,349 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $50.00, for a total transaction of $517,450.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 503,784 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $25,189,200. The trade was a 2.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 16,797 shares of company stock valued at $940,298 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 10.85% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Block

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AlphaQuest LLC bought a new position in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at $207,000. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Block in the second quarter worth about $319,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Block in the second quarter worth approximately $17,156,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas purchased a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $5,769,000. Finally, Howard Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Block during the second quarter valued at approximately $292,000. Institutional investors own 70.44% of the company’s stock.

Block News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Block this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Shares jumped after Block announced it will cut roughly 4,000 jobs (about half its staff) as it leans into AI and smaller teams; investors are pricing in faster efficiency and lower ongoing expenses. Jack Dorsey’s Block laying off more than 4,000 employees, about half of its workforce
• Positive Sentiment: Block reported Q4 EPS of $0.65, beating consensus of $0.26 and signaling better-than-expected near-term profitability despite modest revenue growth; that helped support the rally. Block (XYZ) Meets Q4 Earnings Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Management highlighted AI productivity gains (CFO said engineer output up ~40%), reinforcing the narrative that layoffs will be accompanied by material efficiency improvements. CEO Jack Dorsey issued a dire warning about AI’s impact as he cuts Block by almost half
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Jack Dorsey framed the move as correcting COVID-era overhiring and flattening org structure for the AI era — context that explains management rationale but leaves execution risks unresolved. Jack Dorsey’s mea culpa on Block layoffs: ‘We overhired’
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and futures trading were mixed, meaning broader risk sentiment (inflation prints, macro) could influence how durable the stock move is. Stock Market Today: Dow Jones, S&P 500 Future Drop Ahead Of January Wholesale Inflation Print—Netflix, Block, Rocket Lab In Focus
• Negative Sentiment: Block expects roughly $450M–$500M of restructuring and severance charges tied to the layoffs, which will weigh on near-term free cash flow and reported results. Jack Dorsey’s Block to Lay Off 4,000 Employees in AI Remake
• Negative Sentiment: Shareholder-watchdog activity: Halper Sadeh is probing potential fiduciary breaches, introducing legal/PR risk that could distract management or produce claims. Halper Sadeh LLC Encourages Block, Inc. Shareholders To Contact The Firm To Discuss Their Rights

Block Company Profile

Block (NYSE:XYZ) is a financial technology company that builds products and services to facilitate electronic payments, commerce, and consumer finance. Its principal business lines include a seller-focused ecosystem that provides point-of-sale hardware and software, payment processing, invoicing, payroll and lending services, and a consumer-facing platform that offers peer-to-peer payments, banking-like features, and investing. Block’s portfolio also encompasses music streaming and buy-now-pay-later capabilities through businesses acquired to broaden its reach beyond core payments.

The company was founded as Square in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and later rebranded to Block to reflect a diversified set of businesses across payments, consumer finance, and emerging technologies.