-- CFRA, an independent research provider, has providedwith the following research alert. Analysts at CFRA have summarized their opinion as follows:
Block delivered strong Q1 results, with gross profit accelerating to 27% growth and adjusted EPS of $0.85 vs $0.68 consensus, driven by robust performance across both segments. Revenue of $6.06B beat estimates by $30M, while adjusted operating margin expanded 500 bps to a record 25%. The company's AI transformation is gaining material traction, with production code changes per engineer up 2.5x and incident rates declining 70%, as product development expenses fell 9% despite continued AI investments. Cash App's 38% gross profit growth was powered by Consumer Lending originations surging 82% to $17.6B and Commerce Enablement accelerating to 18% growth, while Square's GPV growth accelerated to 13%, fastest in quarters. We believe the AI-driven productivity gains and strong momentum across both Cash App lending products and Square's mid-market expansion position XYZ well for growth while maintaining disciplined capital allocation with $636M in Q1 buybacks and $9.1B liquidity.