This content represents the writer’s opinions and research and is not intended to be taken as financial advice. The information presented is general in nature and may not meet the specific needs of any individual or entity. It is not intended to be relied upon as a professional or financial decision-making tool.
In light of recent developments, we would like to clarify to our readers that Square, the renowned digital payments company co-founded by Jack Dorsey, has undergone a rebranding process and is now known as ‘Block’. This change does not reflect a buyout or acquisition by a different entity named ‘Block’. Instead, it is a strategic decision made by the company itself to better represent its evolving business interests. We will continue to deliver the latest news and insights about the company, now under its new brand name, ‘Block’.
This San Francisco-based company, which currently has over 5000 employees, was founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey – the popular co-founder of Twitter – and Jim McKelvey.
The company was born as Square Inc., and went public in 2015, 5 years after the launch of its platform, to be exchanged on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) using the ticker SQ for its stocks.
In 2021, the company went through a rebranding operation that led to the name Block Inc.
The name could be considered more in line with the business. Block Inc. is a multinational fintech company focused on providing alternative payments methods – especially to business owners. But the sectors it covers are many, and it’s able to keep its activity sustainable thanks to its subsidiary: Square, a payment platform; Cash App, to facilitate transactions via mobile devices; Weebly, for web hosting services; Afterpay, a Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) service; Tidal, for video streaming, music and podcasts.
Block Inc. also made considerable investments in the crypto space: in 2020, the company invested 1% of its assets in Bitcoin.
In our opinion, this information is useful if you’re interested in investing in Block Inc. – formerly Square: in fact, from a fundamental perspective, you should understand the fintech market, and under a technical perspective, you should consider an historical analysis to better understand where SQ is headed. But don’t worry – we got you covered.
Table of Contents
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock Price Prediction 2023
Let’s start with forecasts. At the time of writing, the price of SQ is slightly above $75.
The general uncertainty that surrounds the economy results in conservative forecasts. For what concerns SQ, analysts seem to agree on a positive forecast that could lead the price of the stock to over $90 by the end of the year.
But the most negative sentiment tells us that the price could remain quite stable or even go down to around $50.
The uncertainty is not solved by what top investors and funds are doing: while Morgan Stanley cut the allocation of its capital to Block Inc. by over 21%, Vanguard increased its allocation to SQ.
In general, we can observe that major funds are investing in SQ, while institutions are decreasing their positions.
For what concerns the most bullish predictions, SQ could reach a price of over $157 in one year.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2022
When 2022 started, the downtrend was already in place, and SQ was actually headed toward the final phase of its downturn.
We witnessed a recovery on February 25, with a high gap caused by an impressive earnings and revenue report that exceeded the expectations around earnings by over 17%.
Block Inc. (SQ) experienced a considerable rally around March 15, 2022.
The discussions around raising the interest rates brought by the Fed, in an attempt to stop the rising inflation, didn’t help all those stocks that generate little cash flow, and that are considered more as long-term investments to gather profits.
The pause before the decisions allowed stocks like SQ to shortly recover and rally in sudden rebounds.
Nevertheless, the price hit a strong resistance zone at around $147, and buyers weren’t strong enough to break the resistance – something confirmed by the peak in buying volume that didn’t manage to eliminate that upper tail on March 22, leading the price to a close below the high.
The extremely negative earnings report on May 5 didn’t improve the situation: the price moved down almost constantly, leading to an accumulation period – a sideways movement – we’re still witnessing today.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2021
In 2021, we witnessed mainly two events: distribution and an impressive downtrend that rebalanced the dramatic growth of 2020 – more on this later.
After the first month, which passed without any particular movement, February was the month of the rebound.
After touching a strong support zone set by buyers in a range between $192 and $216, the price of SQ started rising.
During the days between the end of January and mid February, the price rising and even experienced some positive gaps: the reasons behind may lie in the increasing involvement of the company in the crypto space, as well as in its expansion, but it is a matter of fact that investors and traders anticipated the positive earnings and revenue report of February 23 before selling and take their profits. Among them, the very founders of the company, who sold part of their shares by the end of March 2021.
Traders and investors took advantage of this situation and bought the dip: the support zone was retested, and the price went up – but at a relatively stable volume.
The last significant positive peak of the year occurred in mid-July when Square was making headlines because of analysts comparing Square and PayPal. The move was very similar to the previous one: traders and investors anticipated the report and led the price higher before selling (always be careful with news when it comes to investing your money!).
The high peak in buying volume of August, which didn’t correspond to a significant rise in price, made it clear that sellers had won, and the downtrend became official.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2020
Similarly to other fintech stocks, SQ experienced impressive growth in 2020.
The breakout of the pandemic led to the rise of all those companies that give people intuitive alternatives – especially concerning payment methods – to make online purchases and manage personal and corporate finances.
If you have a look at the price chart, the first significant upwards movement dates back to March 23, only 12 days after the decision of the WHO to declare COVID a pandemic.
The earnings below expectations confirmed by the report shared by Square on May 6 actually didn’t affect the price of SQ, and the uptrends resulted were consistent and confirmed by several peaks in buying volume – like the peak of July 6.
Sellers tried the well-known move to sell off after the positive earnings and revenue report of August 5, but the result was pretty different from the ones we witnessed in 2021 – buyers were stronger, and the global market confirmed their expectations.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2019
2019 was quite a stable year for Square Inc. The price of the SQ stock moved in a range between $54 and $83, with the exception of August 2.
Maybe traders and investors didn’t appreciate the decision of the company to sell Caviar: even if Square made a nice profit with this sale, Caviar was bought to expand the sectors of interest of the company that will become Block Inc. The fact that Caviar was associated with payment services offered by Square, along with the unclear information shared with investors, was maybe the reason why the price of SQ dropped by over 14% in one single day, with a significant negative gap that was leaving no doubts about the negative feelings of traders.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2018
In 2018, we witnessed a mini price cycle – a minor uptrend followed by an even less significant downtrend.
The year started well for companies like Square, especially because interest rates were rising and regulators were on the right track to ease some regulatory frameworks concerning the banking sector.
The uptrend continued smoothly until the end of September 2018, when the price met a resistance level at around $101. The news that populated the following days didn’t help.
Analysts started saying that the stock was oversold, especially after the announcement that the CFO of the company, Sarah Friar, was about to leave her role.
Media started pushing the news between October 10 and 11, and this was reflected by the activity of traders. The following months only confirmed the downtrend, but in general, the price of SQ increased by over 55% during 2018.
Block Inc./Square (SQ) Stock 2017
2017 was a positive year for SQ.
The election of Donald Trump had a positive impact on the US market, and Jack Dorsey became one of the wealthiest CEOs according to Fortune.
The price of SQ rose without any major issues, with the exception of November. The general situation of SQ in 2017 looks very similar to the one we analysed for 2018, but in this case the reason for the drop was different.
The Bitcoin-friendly payment platform might have been affected by the problems investors faced with Bitfinex.
While SQ was hitting a resistance zone at around $49, Bitfinex was announcing troubles with withdrawals and different hacks, which, according to the media, affected both Tether and Bitcoin.
This didn’t improve the general opinion on digital currencies, and didn’t help companies, like Square, which have always been crypto friendly.
Conclusion
As any other stock, Block Inc. – formerly Square – went through ups and downs.
Forecasts for 2023 are maybe less firm than for other stocks, but it’s worth noting that, like for many other fintech stocks, SQ was affected – during the last few years – by major events like presidential elections, the pandemic, and then a general rebalancing for what concerns all those companies that experienced impressive growth since 2020.
FAQ
Is it good to buy SQ right now?
At the time of writing, SQ seems to be fairly priced.
What are the forecasts for SQ?
SQ forecasts for 2023 are still quite uncertain, with a price that ranges from $50 to $157. Most analyses see the possible price target over $90.
What is the ticker of Block’s stock?
The stock of Block Inc. is traded under the symbol SQ – actually, the company was born as Square Inc. and then rebranded.
WeInvests is a financial portal-based research agency. We do our utmost best to offer reliable and unbiased information about crypto, finance, trading and stocks. However, we do not offer financial advice and users should always carry out their own research.
Read More
