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Q2 GP rose 25% YoY, with Adj. OPM hitting a record 27%. Full-year GP guidance was raised to $12.51bn.
MAUs increased only 3% YoY. A high base in Borrow implies Q4 GP growth will slow to the mid-teens, while the company is channeling incremental spend to Neighborhoods, ISO channels, and AI infrastructure.
$Block(XYZ.US) Q2 EARNINGS DOUBLE BEAT
Adj. EPS: $1.02 vs $0.87 estSales: $6.618B vs $6.485B est🟥 -0.69%$Block(XYZ.US) | Mizuho reiterates 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 on 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤 𝐈𝐧𝐜., maintains 𝐏𝐓 𝐚𝐭 $𝟏𝟎𝟎
Analyst sees Neighborhoods, XYZ's new loyalty program, as the biggest lever for fundamentally changing network size and growth trajectory.$Block(XYZ.US) | Baird maintains 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦 on 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤, 𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐓 𝐭𝐨 $𝟏𝟎𝟎
Analyst designates Block a "Bullish Fresh Pick" on likely Q2 beat/raise, macro tailwinds, and margin benefits from cost-saving measures.Piper Sandler Bill Carcache initiates coverage on Visa, Block, Affirm, Capital One, Mastercard, American Express, PayPal
$Block(XYZ.US) $Affirm(AFRM.US) $Capital One Financial(COF.US) $Mastercard(MA.US) $American Express(AXP.US) $Visa(V.US) $Paypal(PYPL.US)
$Visa(V.US)
Visa remains one of the world’s highest-quality compounders. In its latest fiscal Q2 2026 results, revenue rose 17% year-on-year to US$11.2 billion, GAAP net income increased 32% to US$6.0 billion, while EPS climbed 36% to US$3.14. Payments volume reached US$3.7 trillion (+9%), processed transactions rose 9% to 66.1 billion, and cross-border volume grew 12%, highlighting resilient global consumer spending. Visa also returned US$9.2 billion to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, including a new US$20 billion repurchase authorization. (SEC)
From a technical perspective, Visa continues to trade within a long-term bullish trend, consistently making higher highs and higher lows. Any pullback towards key moving averages may provide long-term accumulation opportunities.
Looking ahead, Visa’s next growth drivers extend beyond traditional card payments into AI-powered fraud prevention, commercial payments, real-time money movement, tokenisation, embedded finance, stablecoin settlement and agentic commerce. While fintechs such as Stripe, Block and PayPal, alongside real-time payment networks, are intensifying competition, Visa’s global acceptance network, trusted brand, decades of fraud data and powerful network effects remain formidable competitive moats. For long-term investors seeking durable earnings growth, robust free cash flow and disciplined capital returns, Visa continues to deserve its premium valuation. (tikr.com)
Add'l tickers from morning scans
$Amer Sports(AS.US) $Block(XYZ.US) $GlobalFoundries(GFS.US) $Intuitive Machines(LUNR.US) $Installed Building Products(IBP.US) $Stubhub - CL(STUB.US) $Snowflake(SNOW.US)$Block(XYZ.US) | 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤: Canaccord maintains 𝐁𝐮𝐲, raises 𝐏𝐓 𝐭𝐨 $𝟖𝟓
Analyst sees strong Cash App monetization driving accelerating gross profit growth.Below is Dolphin Research's Trans of $Block(XYZ.US) FY26 Q1 earnings call. For the earnings analysis, please see 'US Alipay Block: growth driven by credit, profits from layoffs?'.
1) Guidance (raised): FY2026 GP lifted to $12.33bn (+19% YoY; +100bps vs. prior). Adj. OP to $3.34bn with OPM at 27% (+100bps vs. prior), and Adj. diluted EPS $3.85 (+62% YoY)...The US 'Alipay' — $Block(XYZ.US) (XYZ.US) — reported Q1 2026 results after the US close on May 8. The quarter was solid, with revenue and profit beating estimates and momentum improving. Guidance for next quarter was also constructive, with a positive tone on trends.
1) Growth and profitability were both strong. Total revenue rose ~5% YoY, weighed by a sharp decline in bitcoin revenue.
Ex‑bitcoin, core revenue was about $4.26bn (+~23% YoY). Growth accelerated by ~100bps vs. last quarter and was clearly ahead of Bloomberg estimates...
$Block(XYZ.US) | 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤: Raymond James maintains 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦, raises 𝐏𝐓 𝐭𝐨 $𝟗𝟎
Analyst sees strong Cash App momentum and raised FY outlook supporting attractive risk/reward$Block(XYZ.US) GOD CANDLE 🔥
EPS: $0.85 vs $0.68 estREV: $6.057B vs $6.061B🟩 +11.28%$Block(XYZ.US) | 𝐁𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐤: Cantor raises 𝐏𝐓 𝐭𝐨 $𝟖𝟖, reiterates 𝐎𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭
Analyst sees resilient consumer spending and supportive macro driving earnings upside, with multiple expansion boosting valuation.Source: Hardik Shah
Global discount retail leader — $Costco Wholesale(COST.US) reported Q2 FY2026 results in U.S. after-hours today.
The quarter ended on Feb 15.Overall, results remained solid, with both revenue and earnings slightly beating estimates.
Momentum stayed intact.On headline metrics, total revenue rose 9.2% YoY, an acceleration vs. last quarter’s 8.3%.
The pickup was aided by FX tailwinds and broadly higher precious metals and commodity prices.OP was $2.61bn, up 12.5% YoY.
Margin expanded by 10 bps YoY, remaining on an improving trajectory...Below is Dolphin Research's compiled FY25Q4 earnings call Trans for $Block(SQ.US). For the earnings analysis, see 'Block: US Alipay‑style platform slashes headcount by 40%! Is compute replacing labor?'.
I. Core financial highlights review. II. Earnings call details; 2.1 Key messages from management.1) Core strategy and outlook. Rationale for the organizational overhaul: Despite strong 2025 performance, the company will reduce headcount from over 10,000 to just under 6,000...The U.S. counterpart to Alipay — $Block(XYZ.US) (XYZ.US) reported Q4 2025 after hours on Feb 27. The surprise plan to cut headcount by 40% overshadowed the print.
Driven in part by that announcement, the stock jumped over 20% post-earnings. The headline move drew most of the attention.
As usual, we will first review the quarter, then discuss views on this near 'halve-the-company' move in the opinion section. 1) Core revenue and adj. profit beat expectations; on overall results...
Block 4Q25 First Take: Beyond the print, the company announced two major moves this quarter. First, it will lay off 40% of staff, cutting headcount from just over 10k to roughly 6k. Management said the business is improving, so the decision is not financial, but to boost organizational agility and leverage AI tools for much higher productivity.
Separately, the company changed its reporting taxonomy. Headline segments remain Square merchant / Cash App / Other, but sub-categories shift from transaction/service/hardware/crypto to commerce-related/financial-related/Bitcoin-related. Historical financials were adjusted modestly, and we will reference legacy taxonomy for this quarter.
Overall, results were solid. Core revenue ex-Bitcoin rose 22% YoY, beating the Street by ~5pct. GP grew 24% YoY, also ~5pct above estimates, with GPM continuing to improve on better mix and operating efficiency.
A small blemish was opex coming in above Bloomberg consensus, largely because estimates were too low (–2% YoY). Actual opex rose 3.8% YoY, with no meaningful step-up in investment. On an Adj. OP basis, results still beat.
By segment, Square merchant was soft, with revenue and GP both below expectations. The drag came from a QoQ slowdown in GPV growth. The bright spot was Cash App, with revenue and GP materially above estimates, as active users, inflows, and transaction counts all improved broadly.
Guidance for next quarter was also above. The company guided GP of $2.8bn (+22% YoY), ~3% above consensus, and Adj. OP of $600mn vs. $575mn expected. The implied OPM is roughly in line, with OP outperformance driven by the stronger GP guide. $Block(XYZ.US)
$Block(XYZ.US)
Block cut 40% of their workforce today.The stock, which has struggled for years, is up 20% after hours.While one can argue that the company never needed 10,000 employees, there is probably something around increased productivity/efficiency due to AI that went into the thinking around the layoffs.No one wants to see people lose jobs, but there are plenty of bloated companies that may realize shareholder return can happen with downsizing.Where does that excess capital now go? Probably to companies like $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) that will be supplying the compute which allows Block to cut 40% of their workforce.No idea if this is the beginning of something really bad for the labor market (I am more optimistic on broader job growth with AI) but it absolutely means owning a stake in the companies doing the replacement is important. Once again, the market is pricing that future growth for $NVIDIA(NVDA.US) at 18x after today’s fall. Feels cheap if the allocation of capital will shift to compute. MI guess the other question is…what’s the next company to layoff this large a % of their workforce and lean more heavily into AI?Source: amit
AI’s impact just hit a new gear. Block ($Block(XYZ.US)) is cutting 40% of its 10k-person headcount due to AI efficiencies.
My take: we’re in the second inning.Source: Gene Munster
0226 | Dolphin Research focus: 🐬 Stock 1, $Alibaba(BABA.US). Alibaba Cloud Bailian launched the 'Coding Plan', integrating APIs for four mainstream models — Qwen3.5, GLM-5, MiniMax M2.5 and Kimi K2.5 — making it the only cloud provider globally to offer this combo.
Lite plan is priced at RMB 7.9 for the first month and RMB 40 for the second; Pro plan at RMB 39.9 for the first month and RMB 200 for the second, with free model switching. The aim is to lower AI coding barriers through aggressive pricing and full-stack model coverage...
