Shares of Block (SQ) traded higher in the after-hours session on Thursday following first-quarter results that beat analysts’ expectations.
Adjusted earnings per share of 85 cents beat consensus estimates by 13 cents, and revenue of $5.97 billion beat Wall Street’s forecast of $5.82 billion. Total profit was $2.09 billion, up 22% from the first quarter of last year.
Notably, the Jack Dorsey-led company announced that it will begin adding more Bitcoin to its balance sheet and that it will open source its financial blueprint so that others can follow suit.
Block, formerly known as Square, said it would invest 10% of its gross profits from its Bitcoin products into monthly Bitcoin purchases. The company also said its original Bitcoin investment of $220 million had grown to $573 million, an increase of about 160%.
“We believe that the world needs an open currency protocol that is not owned or controlled by any single entity. We believe Bitcoin is the best and only candidate to become that protocol and ultimately the default currency of the Internet.” Dorsey in a letter.
The company’s Cash App division delivered strong performance across its Cash App Card, BNPL platform, Bitcoin products and Cash App Borrow, delivering 25% year-over-year gross profit growth in the first quarter, driven primarily by higher inflows and monetization rates per active. Recorded. .
The company said that total sales of bitcoins sold to customers, which are recognized as bitcoin sales, were $2.73 billion, resulting in a gross profit of $80 million in the first quarter.
Block announced on April 23 that it had completed development of a 3-nanometer Bitcoin mining chip. This brings the company closer to its goal of supporting decentralized mining, which includes providing standalone mining chips and mining systems.
Block is reportedly dealing with authorities over non-compliant cryptocurrency services. Federal prosecutors are scrutinizing Bloc’s cryptocurrency division and working with a whistleblower to investigate the company’s compliance practices, a source familiar with the matter told NBC News earlier this week.
Block’s shares were trading up 7.6% after-hours at $75.68 at the time of publication. The stock closed the regular session up 5.17% at $70.30. The stock price has fallen about 2.6% so far this year.
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