Why Is Block Inc Surging After Hours? A Closer Look At Q4 Earnings

Financial technology company Block Inc SQ, formerly known as Square, reported fourth-quarter and full-year financial results after market close Thursday.

What Happened: Block reported fourth-quarter revenue of $4.08 billion, up 29% year-over-year. The total came in ahead of a consensus estimate of $4.03 billion according to Benzinga Pro.

Excluding Bitcoin BTC/USD revenue, net revenue for Block was $2.12 billion, up 51% year-over-year.

Earnings per share were 27 cents in the fourth quarter, beating a consensus estimate of 22 cents per share.

Block’s Cash Card had over 13 million monthly active users in December and a total of over 44 million monthly transacting users, up 22% year-over-year.

Full fiscal year revenue hit $17.66 billion for Square, up 86% year-over-year. Excluding Bitcoin, full fiscal year revenue was $7.65 billion, up 55% year-over-year.

Related Link: It's Hip To Be Block: Square Is Changing Its Name 

What’s Next: Block completed its acquisition of buy now, pay later company Afterpay in January. Afterpay will be included in the company’s financial results beginning in the first quarter.

“We believe this acquisition will further Block’s strategic priorities for Square and Cash App by strengthening the connections between our ecosystems as we deliver compelling financial products and services for consumers and merchants,” the company said.

Block said it expects to have Square GPV up 35% year-over-year in the months of January and February. Cash App is expected to grow gross profit and monthly transacting users in the first quarter on a year-over-year basis.

SQ Price Action: Shares are up 22% to 115.80 in after-hours trading.