Key Points
- Block plans to invest 10% of its Bitcoin profits into Bitcoin each month.
- Block’s Q1 earnings exceeded analysts’ expectations, leading to a rise in its shares.
Block’s shares saw a surge after the company reported first-quarter earnings that surpassed the expectations of analysts.
The company reported adjusted earnings of 85 cents per share, outperforming the consensus estimate by 13 cents. Additionally, the revenue of $5.97 billion exceeded Wall Street’s projection of $5.82 billion. The gross profit saw a 22% increase from the first quarter of the previous year, amounting to $2.09 billion.
Investing in Bitcoin
The company, led by Jack Dorsey, announced its plans to increase its Bitcoin holdings. The company also plans to open-source its treasury blueprint to inspire others.
Block, previously known as Square, announced that it will invest 10% of its gross profit from Bitcoin-related products into Bitcoin each month. The original investment of $220 million in Bitcoin by the company has seen a rise of approximately 160% to $573 million.
Dorsey stated in a letter that he believes the world needs an open protocol for money that isn’t owned or controlled by a single entity. He believes Bitcoin is the best candidate for this protocol and could potentially become the native currency of the internet.
Cash App and Bitcoin Mining
The company’s Cash App unit saw a 25% year-over-year gross profit growth in the first quarter. This was primarily driven by inflows per active and monetization rate, with strong performance across Cash App Card, BNPL platform, Bitcoin products, and Cash App Borrow.
The total sale amount of Bitcoin sold to customers, recognized as Bitcoin revenue, amounted to $2.73 billion. The gross profit from this was $80 million in the first quarter.
On April 23, Block announced that it had completed the development of a three-nanometer Bitcoin mining chip. This brings the company closer to its goal of supporting decentralized mining, which will include offering standalone mining chips and mining systems.
There are reports that Block is dealing with authorities concerning non-compliant crypto services. Federal prosecutors are reportedly scrutinizing Block’s crypto unit and are working with whistleblowers to investigate the company’s compliance practices.
After the announcement of the Q1 earnings, Block’s stock was trading higher after hours by 7.6% to $75.68. The stock closed the regular session at $70.30, marking a 5.17% gain. The shares have seen a decrease of about 2.6% in the year-to-date period.
