Block, Inc

PayPal Holdings is using its PayPal World initiative to strengthen connectivity across its consumer ecosystem, and the effort facilitated roughly $200 million in total payment volume between PayPal and Venmo in the second quarter. The company is focusing on increasing engagement among existing customers, as second-quarter payment transactions rose 8% year over year and transactions per active account, excluding payment service provider activity, rose 7%, while monthly active accounts increased just 1%. Venmo illustrates the monetization potential of deeper engagement: Venmo total payment volume grew 14% year over year, monthly active accounts for the Venmo Debit Card increased more than 50%, and customers using both Venmo Debit and Pay with Venmo generated more than nine times the average revenue per account of peer-to-peer-only users. Among competitors, Block generated $3.17 billion in gross profit in the second quarter of 2026, up 25% year over year, with Cash App gross profit up 31% to $1.97 billion and Square gross profit up 13% to $1.16 billion on Square GPV of $72.8 billion, while Fiserv reported $5.29 billion in GAAP revenues, down 4%, adjusted revenues of $4.96 billion, down 4%, and adjusted EPS of $1.84, down 26%. PayPal shares have gained 24.5% over the past three months and trade at a forward 12-month P/E of 9.31X, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2026 EPS has been revised upward to $5.38 over the past two months, indicating a year-over-year increase of 1.3%.

Cerebras Systems is expanding its technology roadmap and customer base to strengthen its position in the AI inference market, targeting coding, agentic AI, security and enterprise workloads as it competes with NVIDIA and Alphabet. Core cloud and other services revenues surged 287% year over year to $127.7 million in the second quarter of 2026. The company expects to double system speed annually over the next several years and increase throughput by more than 20 times over the next 18 months, while its disaggregated inference architecture with AMD combines Cerebras systems with AMD Helios racks to raise throughput by up to five times. Its collaboration with Amazon Web Services is expected to bring disaggregated inference to Amazon Bedrock in the first quarter of 2027, and Cerebras supports OpenAI's GPT-5.6 Sol at a speed that is 10 times faster, with first revenues from other hyperscalers expected around mid-2027. Cerebras signed six deals worth more than $30 million each in the second quarter and added customers such as Cognition, Lovable and Figma in AI coding, while Block, AlphaSense and GSK use its fast inference for agentic workflows and CrowdStrike represents a move into AI-powered cybersecurity. The company has more than 600 MW of data-center capacity live or contracted through the end of 2027, and manufacturing capacity is expected to rise more than tenfold in 2026, supported by secured TSMC wafer supply.

Block, Inc. has filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency to charter Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., an uninsured national trust bank that would not accept deposits or make traditional loans but would focus on fiduciary and custody services for bitcoin and stablecoins. The September 8 filing, if approved, would give Block a federally supervised framework for digital asset custody and could strengthen its institutional credibility as it seeks to expand its institutional customer base. Block could also use the regulated infrastructure to support broader stablecoin-related products and payments through its Cash App ecosystem, and to benefit from the GENIUS Act, which established a federal regulatory framework for stablecoins. The OCC must still review and approve the application, and regulators could impose additional conditions or delay the process, while higher compliance, cybersecurity, reporting and risk-management requirements would add costs. According to Insider Monkey's database, 76 hedge funds held positions in Block at the end of the second quarter, up from 63 at the end of the first quarter, with Citadel Investment Group cutting its stake by 7% to approximately $448.49 million and Tiger Global Management raising its position by 15% to approximately $347.78 million.

Block, Inc. filed an application with the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency on September 8, 2026 for a national trust bank charter under the name Builders Bank & Trust, N.A., seeking federal authorization to custody Bitcoin and stablecoins at institutional scale. The charter is uninsured and non-deposit-taking, meaning Block is not seeking to become a traditional bank, but rather to bypass the state-by-state money transmitter licensing regime that has constrained its Cash App business since inception. Block's filing joins a broader charter wave that has sorted into three distinct lanes: crypto-native firms such as Circle, which received final OCC approval in July, Ripple, which obtained a conditional charter, and BitGo, which secured final approval; Wall Street institutions including JPMorgan, BNY Mellon, and State Street, which have expanded digital asset custody through existing banking licenses rather than new charters; and Block itself, a consumer fintech with over 50 million monthly active users on Cash App that is building institutional plumbing. The structural advantage of an OCC trust charter is preemption, replacing a patchwork of state requirements with a single federal framework and providing access to the Federal Reserve's payment rails and correspondent banking network. The timing matters, as the CLARITY Act heads for a Senate floor vote on September 15 and the GENIUS Act, signed into law in July, established a stablecoin-specific regulatory framework, while the OCC's processing timeline for national trust bank charters has varied from six months to over a year.

Block Inc. is positioning its Cash App segment as a major growth driver for 2026, with lending operations within the segment becoming key to management's outlook. For the first time, Block will open its Cash App Score to external lenders through a collaboration with Nova Credit's Cash Flow Intelligence Platform, potentially monetizing its data infrastructure. In the second quarter, Block exceeded guidance with $3.17 billion in gross profit, $864 million in adjusted operating income, and revenue of $6.62 billion, up 9.3% year over year. Cash App gross profit expanded 31%, driven by a 59% jump in consumer lending origination volume, prompting management to raise full-year guidance to above $12.5 billion in gross profit with a 28% adjusted operating margin. However, the concentration of risk in lending is a concern, as the book has not been tested through a full credit cycle. Hedge fund interest is rising, with 76 funds holding positions in Q2 2026, up from 63 in Q1, and BlackRock is the largest institutional investor with 41.57 million shares.

Block has launched Cash App Score to external lenders for the first time through a new partnership with Nova Credit, giving lenders access to its proprietary cash flow based credit score for underwriting. The move extends Block's credit scoring reach beyond its own ecosystem and into Nova Credit's lending platform, targeting consumers underserved by traditional credit models. Cash App Score pushes Block deeper into infrastructure for lenders, turning an internal risk engine into a tool other institutions can plug into, supporting higher margin banking services without incremental credit exposure. Investors should watch how Block reports Cash App powered lending metrics, including approval rates and partner uptake, in upcoming disclosures and at the Cash Flow Intelligence Summit on 10 September 2026.

Block's shares have risen 5.5% since its second-quarter earnings report, outperforming the S&P 500, as the company beat estimates and raised its full-year outlook. In Q2 2026, Block reported adjusted EPS of $1.02, up 64.5% year over year and above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 86 cents, while revenues rose 9.3% to $6.62 billion, beating the consensus of $6.54 billion. Growth was driven by Cash App and Square strength, with total Square GPV up 13.4% to $72.85 billion and Cash App gross profit up 31.5% to $1.97 billion. The company raised its full-year 2026 outlook to gross profit of $12.51 billion, implying 21% growth, and adjusted EPS of $4.02, up 70%. Estimates have trended upward over the past month, with the consensus shifting 9.37%, and Block holds a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) with a VGM Score of A.

Cathie Wood's Ark Invest purchased $37.4 million worth of Block Inc. shares on Monday, spreading the acquisition across three actively managed exchange-traded funds. The firm bought 456,059 shares of the Jack Dorsey-led company, allocating 191,732 shares to its flagship ARK Innovation ETF, 88,065 shares to the ARK Next Generation Internet ETF, and 176,262 shares to the ARK Fintech Innovation ETF. Block shares closed down 3.23% at $80.20. The purchase followed Block's second-quarter earnings report, which showed gross profit of $3.17 billion, up 25% year over year, and a raised 2026 gross-profit forecast of $12.51 billion. Ark also bought 35,192 shares of Circle Internet Group through its fintech fund, worth about $3.36 million, while selling shares of Palantir, Shopify, Roblox, AMD, and Tempus AI on the same day.

Billionaire investor Dan Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point, has revealed new and increased stakes in four Bitcoin miners pivoting to artificial intelligence, as well as Jack Dorsey's Block, according to its second-quarter 2026 13F filing with the SEC. Third Point raised its stake in Hut 8 to $151.8 million and opened positions in Riot Platforms worth $7 million, Core Scientific worth $1.38 million, and Applied Digital Corp. worth $820,000, while also investing $194.47 million in Block. The miners have signed massive AI deals, including Applied Digital's $5.2 billion lease with a hyperscaler, Hut 8's $9.8 billion lease for its Texas data center, Core Scientific's agreement with AMD for over 500 megawatts, and Riot Platforms' $9.1 billion deal with Anthropic. Block, which laid off over 4,000 employees due to AI integration, reported second-quarter revenue of $6.62 billion and EPS of $1.02, beating estimates. The filing signals Loeb's diversification into crypto companies now focusing on AI.

Block's Square is deepening its restaurant push, signing Cascadia Pizza Co., which returned to Square in 2026 after reassessing its restaurant and franchise tools, and now uses Square for Restaurants, Square Franchise Suite, and hardware across 17 corporate restaurants, franchise locations, food trucks, and catering in five states. This deal, part of Square's broader expansion into larger sellers, follows an expanded OpenTable partnership and The Baked Bear's plan to add at least five new stores. In the second quarter of 2026, Square's Gross Payment Volume rose 13% to $72.8 billion, with food-and-beverage GPV up 20%, and Block's gross profit increased 25% to $3.17 billion, with adjusted EPS at $1.02. Block expects $12.51 billion of gross profit and $3.47 billion of adjusted operating income for 2026, while competitors PayPal and Adyen have also expanded partnerships, with Adyen joining Toast's U.S. ecosystem. Block shares have risen 15.6% over three months, trading at a forward P/E of 24.84X, below the industry's 27.93X, and the Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 EPS has been revised upward, indicating a 70.4% year-over-year increase.

Block has expanded its Neighborhoods program to connect Cash App customers with an additional 30,000 Square sellers, integrating Local Cash rewards of up to US$10 per qualifying order and scaling the network to sellers representing US$1.00 billion in annualized gross payment volume as of June 2026. Spend from Neighborhoods followers has grown to about 10% of seller payment volume after three quarters, highlighting how Block's ecosystem can deepen relationships between frequent Cash App users and local businesses. The expansion supports the near-term catalyst of higher cross-platform activity but does not materially change the key risk around slowing Cash App user growth and earnings volatility from newer products and legal issues. Block's first half 2026 results showed revenue grew to US$12,674.53 million while the company swung to a net loss of US$220.16 million.

Square and OpenTable announced an expanded, preferred partnership that connects reservations, payments, and guest data in one unified view for restaurants. The integration links OpenTable's guest insights with Square's transaction and operational data, enabling operators to see reservation history, dining preferences, and spending together. Restaurants can now link bookings to revenue, repeat visits, and lifetime value to improve loyalty and marketing. The partnership serves restaurants across the U.S., Canada, the U.K., Australia, Ireland, and France, building on a point-of-sale collaboration that began in 2022.

Block launched Bitcoin payments on Square's point-of-sale system, allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin with no processing fees until 2027. The company also expanded its partnership with Google to bring Square food and beverage sellers into conversational AI ordering through Google Maps, with Cash App ordering set to link directly within Google Maps. The move connects discovery to checkout for participating Square restaurant sellers and fits into Block's push to link how merchants accept money with how consumers discover and pay for services.

Block's fair value estimate has been raised from US$93.23 to US$97.60 following a wave of analyst revisions after its second-quarter results. Firms including BofA, Citi, Piper Sandler, and Goldman Sachs lifted price targets into a roughly US$95 to US$115 range, citing 25% gross profit growth, a 37% adjusted EBITDA margin, and raised 2026 guidance. BMO Capital kept a Market Perform rating but flagged the risk that some positives could be one-offs, while Piper Sandler and Cantor Fitzgerald noted macro and credit uncertainties. The revised valuation reflects a lower revenue growth assumption of 10.46% versus 10.86% previously, offset by a higher net profit margin of 11.19% and a slightly higher discount rate of 7.58%.

Venture capitalist Tim Draper projected on Tuesday that Bitcoin will go to infinity against the dollar in a fundamental global shift. In an X post, Draper attached a screenshot of a March announcement about Jack Dorsey-led Block Inc. launching Bitcoin payments on its Square point-of-sale system, which lets merchants accept BTC payments with no processing fees until 2027 and includes a Conversion feature enabling them to convert a portion of card sales into Bitcoin. Draper, an early Bitcoin backer, outlined a step-by-step progression for Bitcoin adoption: businesses start accepting it, then exclusively accept it, triggering bank runs and ultimately causing BTC to go to infinity against the dollar. The billionaire investor considers his Bitcoin holdings more secure than the dollars he keeps in the bank, arguing that quantum computing poses a greater risk to banks than to the blockchain.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey said the company's new workspace collaboration platform, Buzz, elevates its core technologies to a new height. During Block's second-quarter earnings call, Dorsey stated that AI technologies have always been integral to the company's DNA, and that Buzz takes it to a different level. He noted many sellers are frustrated with current tools and seek something built-in, with Buzz designed to help businesses manage sales, employees and operations from a single workspace. Block launched Buzz last month as an open-source platform connecting humans and AI agents in conversations. The company also reported second-quarter earnings of $1.02 per share, beating the consensus estimate of 87 cents, and revenue of $6.62 billion, surpassing the $6.49 billion estimate.

Block completed a multi-year US$4.43 billion share repurchase program that retired 11.03% of its stock, while reporting second-quarter revenue of US$6,617.69 million and net income of US$88.52 million. A day later, Google announced an expanded collaboration with Square that integrates food and beverage sellers into Ask Maps and Order by Cash App, linking Block's payments ecosystems more tightly into AI-driven restaurant discovery and ordering. The combination of AI-led product acceleration and deeper Google integration could reshape Block's investment narrative, though rising credit exposure and narrower margins remain key risks.

Block raised its 2026 outlook after second-quarter gross profit grew 25% and the adjusted operating income margin reached a record 27%. The company now expects 2026 gross profit of $12.51 billion, up 21%, and adjusted operating income of $3.47 billion at a 28% margin, with full-year adjusted earnings projected at $4.02 per share, up 70%. Adjusted earnings of $1.02 per share beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $0.86, while revenues of $6.62 billion topped the consensus estimate of $6.54 billion. Square gross payment volume grew 13% to $72.8 billion, with U.S. growth accelerating to roughly 10%, its strongest rate since the second quarter of 2023, and Cash App gross profit rose 31% to $1.97 billion. Management highlighted faster product development, with code changes per engineer up 150% since the start of 2026 and Square shipping 130 features in the first half, more than triple the prior-year pace.

Block reported second-quarter revenue of $6.62 billion, a 9.3% increase from a year earlier, while earnings per share jumped to $1.02 from $0.62. Revenue exceeded the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $6.54 billion by 1.25%, and EPS beat the consensus of $0.86 by 18.61%. Cash App Monthly Transacting Actives reached 59 million, just shy of the 59.17 million estimate, and Total Cash App Inflows were $87 billion versus the $87.42 billion forecast. Square Gross Payment Volume came in at $72.85 billion, above the $72.16 billion estimate, and Square total revenue rose 15.6% year over year to $2.5 billion, while Cash App total revenue grew 4.6% to $4.02 billion.

US payments giant Block on the 5th raised its full-year 2026 gross profit guidance to $12.51 billion, representing growth of 21 percent. The previous forecast was $12.33 billion, or 19 percent growth. Second-quarter gross profit saw a 31 percent year-on-year surge in the consumer mobile payment app Cash App, while the merchant business Square grew 13 percent. Adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.02, beating the analyst consensus of $0.87 compiled by LSEG, and revenue of $6.62 billion also topped market expectations of around $6.49 billion. Block shares rose more than 4 percent in after-hours trading.

Kreation Organic, the cold-pressed juice and healthy quick-service restaurant brand, has renewed and expanded its partnership with Square across all 25 of its Southern California locations, with two additional openings on the way. The brand is deepening its investment in Square's platform by adding Square Kiosk and Square Handheld to an existing stack that already includes Square for Restaurants, Square Loyalty, Square Marketing, and Square Gift Cards. Founder and CEO Marjan Sarshar said Square handles operational complexity so her team can focus on crafting nourishing food. Square Handhelds will be used for line-busting and flexible payments during peak hours, while Square Kiosk will support self-service ordering with automatic menu updates. Kreation also connects Square with UberEats and Postmates via direct integration.

Jack Dorsey has launched Buzz, a new open-source group chat platform built by Block Inc. that aims to compete with Slack and GitHub by merging human and AI agent conversations into one workspace. The platform is model-agnostic, decentralized, and available on macOS, Windows, and Linux. The launch could pressure Salesforce, which acquired Slack for $27.7 billion in 2021, and Microsoft, which bought GitHub for $7.5 billion in 2018. Salesforce shares fell 3.6% to $163.90 on Wednesday and are down 35.4% year-to-date in 2026, with KeyBanc analyst Jackson Ader recently downgrading the stock to Sector Weight citing limited growth signs.

BlackRock, Strategy and Coinbase are among the founding members of a new Bitcoin Security Consortium that will direct $15 million over three years to developers, researchers and organizations working on Bitcoin's long-term security. Other founding members include Anchorage Digital, ARK Invest, Block, Blockstream, Fidelity Digital Assets and Galaxy. Each member will independently decide where its capital goes, with Brink Executive Director Mike Schmidt coordinating the consortium's work in a volunteer capacity. The first area of focus is post-quantum cryptography, addressing the future risk of quantum computers breaking Bitcoin's cryptography. The group will not direct Bitcoin's protocol or endorse specific upgrades, but will support existing work and publish material to give investors and the public a clearer view of Bitcoin's security progress.

Dimassi’s Mediterranean Buffet has expanded its longstanding partnership with Square as it eyes further US expansion. The family-owned, halal Mediterranean buffet chain now operates 24 locations across Texas and California, with three additional restaurants planned for 2026. The brand is deepening its use of Square’s platform by adding Square Marketing and a range of food and beverage capabilities to the all-in-one payments, point-of-sale, and software stack it has relied on since 2018. Dimassi’s runs Square Register and Square Handheld across its locations for front-of-house transactions, alongside Square Gift Cards and Square Loyalty, and utilizes Square’s partner ecosystem including integrations with DoorDash, Uber Eats, Grubhub, Olo, and QuickBooks Online. The expanded partnership aims to provide consistency across locations and support the brand’s growth as it opens new restaurants.

Honolulu Cookie Company is expanding its use of Block's Square platform across 14 locations and a new flagship store, providing a real-world test of Block's merchant reach. Block's share price has returned 7.49% over the past 30 days and 23.38% year to date, though its five-year total shareholder return is down 68.07%. The most followed narrative pegs Block's fair value at $90.52 versus a last close of $80.38, suggesting the stock is 11.2% undervalued, while its current P/E ratio of 59.8x stands well above the peer average of 11.7x and the US Diversified Financial industry average of 15.1x.

PayPal Holdings surged 17.20 percent on Wednesday to close at $55.52 apiece following a report that Stripe and Advent International are joining forces to acquire the digital payments company for $53 billion. Reuters reported that the deal would be at a price of $60.50 apiece, or at a 27.7 percent premium potential over its $47.37 closing price prior to the report, with Stripe and Advent taking equal ownership. CNBC added that Block Inc. is considering joining the acquisition, potentially investing $17 billion. Macquarie reiterated a neutral stance on PayPal with a $50 price target, noting the potential for cost discipline and operational improvement under private equity ownership. Hedge fund participation had softened before the reports, with 76 funds holding $1.2 billion in stakes as of the first quarter, down from 78 funds holding $2.087 billion in the prior quarter.

Stripe and Advent have reportedly bid $60.50 per share for PayPal in a deal valued at $53.4 billion, with Block also joining the group and each planning to contribute $17 billion in equity. The offer includes about $50 billion in committed bank financing, and PayPal’s board has yet to respond. The acquisition would give the bidders access to PayPal’s consumer network of over 430 million accounts, complementing their merchant-focused businesses, with Venmo seen as a key prize due to its strong brand and double-digit payment volume growth. William Blair analyst Andrew Jeffrey called the initial bid a potential low-ball offer and suggested the group could go as high as $70 per share.

Zacks Investment Research identifies Visa, Robinhood, and Block as three crypto and blockchain stocks positioned to benefit from the sector's evolution into a regulated component of global finance. Visa is building an interoperability bridge between blockchain liquidity and commerce, with more than 160 stablecoin-card programs live or in development and a nine-chain settlement pilot reaching a $7 billion annualized run rate. Robinhood is expanding from retail execution toward global infrastructure, with its Ethereum Layer 2 testnet surpassing 100 million transactions and Bitstamp's first-quarter volume approximately 94% institutional. Block's vertically integrated bitcoin strategy spans Cash App, which posted preliminary second-quarter 2026 Bitcoin Ecosystem revenue of $1.8 billion, self-custody wallet Bitkey, and mining infrastructure unit Proto. All three stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy).