Block Inc logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, April 10, 2023.
Dado Ruvic | Reuters
Block reported first-quarter earnings after the bell that exceeded analysts’ estimates. The stock rose about 10% in extended trading.
Here’s how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus from LSEG.
Earnings per share: 85 cents adjusted vs. 72 cents adjusted that was expected
Revenue: $5.97 billion vs. $5.82 billion expected
Block posted $2.09 billion in gross profit, up 22% from a year ago. Analysts tend to focus on gross profit as a more accurate measurement of the company’s core transactional businesses.
The company reported net income of $472 million, or 74 cents per share, more than quadruple the net income of $98.3 million, or 16 cent per share, a year earlier.
The company raised its adjusted EBITDA forecast for the second quarter to $690 million from $670 million.
Block, formerly known as Square, ended the year with 57 million monthly transacting actives for Cash App in March, up 6% year-over-year. Inflows per transacting active were $1,255, up 11% year over year.
The Cash App business, which is the company’s popular mobile payment platform, reported $1.26 billion in gross profit, a 25% year-over-year jump. Block, run by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, said its Cash App Card monthly active users increased to 24 million in March.
Block is also more focused on integrating Afterpay, the buy-now, pay-later company it bought for $29 billion in 2021. Afterpay struggled following the deal, posting biglosses.
Block has slimmed down operations in recent months. In January, Dorsey reportedly said in a note to staffers that the company had laid off a “large number” of workers. This followed another round of layoffs in December.
Chief financial officer Amrita Ahujasaid in a call with CNBC that the company is raising its outlook for the year to reflect its strong performance in the first quarter.
Dorsey’s note to shareholders began by directly addressing a question that he often fields: “Why the hell are you all spending so much time on bitcoin?”
“Less than 3% of company resources are dedicated to bitcoin-related projects,” Dorsey wrote. “But why spend time on bitcoin at all? We believe the world needs an open protocol for money, one that’s not owned or controlled by any single entity.”
Bitcoin, said bitcoin will ultimately help Block “serve more people around the world faster.” He added that going forward, Block will be investing 10% of its gross profit from bitcoin products into purchases of bitcoin for investment.
“We were one of the first public companies to put bitcoin on our balance sheet,” he wrote.
The $220 million the company invested into bitcoin has grown 160% to $573 million as of the end of the first quarter, according to Dorsey.
Federal probe into Block
Cash App remains a significant contributor to overall profitability at the company.
The Block CFO told CNBC that the fintech firm has seen “continued resilience of spend” with not only growth in actives, but also growth in spend per monthly active user on a year-over-year and quarter-over-quarter basis.
“Which shows us again, continued resilience of this customer base and strong engagement with our product,” said Ahuja.
Shares in Block dropped 8% percent on Wednesday after an NBC investigation claimed that U.S. prosecutors were probing the company’s compliance practices based on information leaked to them by a former employee of the company.
“Most of the transactions discussed with prosecutors, involving credit card transactions, dollar transfers and bitcoin, were not reported to the government as required,” the NBC story alleged.
The whistleblower reportedly gave the government materials showing breaches in know-your-customer and anti-money laundering rules, as well as evidence indicating that management ignored these lapses.
Unlike past reports of possible wrongdoing at the company, the latest allegations encompass both Cash App and the company’s Square point-of-sale technology. It also includes within its scope international payments, sanctioned nations, and breaches of the Office of Foreign Assets Control. In September, Alyssa Henry stepped down as Square CEO. Dorsey stepped in to fill the role and no successor has been announced.
A separate report in February published by the same NBC reporter found that two whistleblowers had gone to the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, or FinCEN, to share similar allegations. The popular payment app “had no effective procedure” to establish the identity of its customers, two whistleblowers told officials, according to NBC.
Analysts for Macquarie wrote in a note on Wednesday that should the Federal probe find merit in these claims, they see greater potential for fines or behavioral remedies such as robust oversight teams and infrastructure rather than “something structural like limitations on the types of business it can do.”
Last year, short seller Hindenburg Research levied similar claims, alleging that Block allowed criminal activity to operate with lax controls and “highly” inflates Cash App’s transacting user base, a key metric of performance.
Hindenburg described Block’s internal systems as a “‘Wild West’ approach to compliance.”
— CNBC’s Michael Bloom and Kate Rooney contributed to this report.
The electric Tacoma and 4Runner may not be a pipe dream after all. Toyota is hinting that EV versions of the popular pickup and SUV could be coming to the US.
Is Toyota launching Tacoma and 4Runner EVs?
Toyota took the spotlight this week in Brussels, unveiling three new electric SUVs set to arrive in Europe by the end of the year.
Although the event was heavily focused on its European lineup, we are learning a little more about what to expect in the US.
For one, Toyota unveiled the new bZ4X. In its first major refresh since launching in 2022, the electric SUV now has more range, faster charging, dedicated EV features, and a new look inside and out.
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Although US specs were not revealed, the new Toyota bZ4X has a bigger 73.1 kWh battery, providing up to 573 km (356 miles) WLTP driving range. On the EPA rating system, it’s expected to see around 270 to 280 miles range, up from 252 miles in the 2025 bZ4X.
Toyota’s new bZ4X AWD model (Source: Toyota)
During the event, Toyota’s chief branding officer, Simon Humphries, stressed the company’s focus on creating “ever-better” cars specifically tailored to buyers in the region.
In Europe, Toyota is launching the new bZ4X, C-HR+, and Land Cruiser electric SUVs. In China, Toyota offers the bZ4X, bZ3C, and recently introduced bZ3X, all dedicated EVs.
From left to right: Toyota’s new C-HR+, bZ4X, and Urban Cruiser electric SUVs (Source: Toyota Europe)
Toyota only offers the bZ4X in the US outside its luxury Lexus brand, which sells the RZ. That is about to change soon.
The Japanese auto giant invested over $2 billion to build its first three-row electric SUV at its Kentucky manufacturing plant. The larger SUV will go into production in the first half of 2026.
Humphries hinted at a few new EVs we could see from Toyota over the next few years, saying there’s “unbridled opportunities for recreation in America, with the Tacoma and 4Runner.”
Toyota teases new electric pickup, SUV, and crossover alongside the new bZ4X, C-HR+, and Land Cruiser launching in Europe by 2026 (Source: Toyota)
Toyota teased a new electric pickup and SUV that will launch in Europe next year as it expands its EV lineup. With the company reportedly dropping the “bZ” naming system, an electric Toyota Tacoma and 4Runner look more and more likely.
Last year, the Tacoma was Toyota’s top-selling pickup in the US, with over 192,000 units sold. The 4Runner was its third best-selling SUV (92,100), behind the RAV4 (475,200) and Corolla Cross (93,000). Fully electric versions could finally help charge up Toyota’s EV sales in the US.
How do you feel about an electric Tacoma pickup or 4Runner SUV? Would you buy one?
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Elon Musk is reportedly giving Trump another $100 million just after the President did an ad for Tesla at the White House.
During the last election cycle, Musk contributed more than $250 million to Trump’s campaign through donations to political action committees (PACs).
Trump has won, but he still needs money.
While he can’t seek reelection, the mid-term and Congress/Senate elections are coming. The GOP is looking to increase its control over the House and Senate. Furthermore, Trump doesn’t have the full support of the GOP, and Musk has made clear that he plans to invest money in the primaries against any GOP members who don’t support Trump.
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Now, Axios and NYT report that Musk told the White House that he plans to contribute another $100 million in political donations to Trump and his PACs.
It raises concerns about the ad being a quid pro quo between Musk and Trump.
The publicity stunt also happened after Tesla’s stock crashed 15% the day before and 50% since its peak achieved in December.
Tesla’s stock price is important for Musk. It is his main source of wealth, and he often uses loans against the stock to finance his lifestyle and sometimes invest in other companies.
Tesla’s US sales amid protests against the company over Elon’s political involvement are likely badly affected, and this is his solution: to intertwin Tesla’s brand even further with the most controversial US President in modern history.
It’s so dumb. I am sure that Trump can help encourage a few people buy Tesla vehicles, but long term, this will hurt the brand even more.
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Yangwang is gearing up to officially launch its long-teased U7 sedan—a third flagship model for BYD’s high-end performance sub-brand. When it hits the market in China later this month, the U7 promises competitive luxury and “groundbreaking technology.”
Yangwang, which directly translates to “looking up” or “admire” is a young luxury brand under the BYD umbrella introduced in 2023. The marque turned some heads out of the gate at that year’s Shanghai Auto Show, where it unveiled the U8 SUV, which can go amphibious in emergencies and crabwalk.
At that same event, the automaker showcased its new intelligent body control system, DiSus, and the unique usage of BYD’s proprietary individual wheel drive (IWD) technology platform, “e4.” Yangwang has followed up with a 1,200 horsepower electric supercar called the U9, which has hit the markets in China alongside the U8.
In early 2024, Yangwang unveiled its first sedan, the U7, to complete an initial trio of flagship models. Since then, we have covered several updates, including what appeared to be leaked performance specs detailing over 1,300 horsepower and over 500 miles of range.
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The U7 hit showrooms in China last summer followed by a start of pre-orders in November, although pricing was not available at the time. We have since learned that the Yangwang U7 will start at a price of RMB 1 million ($138,000) and will come in BEV and PHEV variants.
Today, we learned when and where we will learn all the confirmed specs and pricing in regard to the Yangwang U7 – which will be on March 27 in Shenzen, home to BYD’s headquarters.
Source: Yangwang/Weibo
Yangwang U7 can remain stable if rear-ended at 100 km/h
Yangwang shared the launch event image seen above on its Weibo page today, detailing that the public will learn all there is to know about the sedan on March 27 at 7:30 PM Beijing time (7:30 AM EDT). Per its post, Yangwang is promising the U7 will hit the market with “groundbreaking technologies,” some of which it showcased in separate posts on the Chinese social media platform.
For example, Yangwang shared its new DiSus-Z technology, based on the DiSus body control system mentioned above. This will be the most high-end and best-performing version of the system, joining an intelligent vibration-damping body control system called DiSus-C, an intelligent air body control system called DiSus-A, and an intelligent hydraulic body control system called DiSus-P.
According to the post, DiSus-Z has completed research, development, and testing and is set to debut on the new sedan. Yangwang also teased some safety capabilities of the new U7, sharing that the sedan can get rear-ended while driving 100 km/h (62 mph) and remain in control without spinning out. Check out the brand’s Weibo for a video demonstration. Additionally, the U7 can still drive steadily after blowing out two tires on the same side while driving 160 km/h (99 mph).
According to previous statements by Yangwang, the BEV version of the U7 will feature a 135.5 kWh battery pack powered by BYD Blade batteries exclusive to the sedan, capable of delivering 720 km (447 miles) of CLTC range. Those performance specs and several other details should be confirmed on March 27 in Shenzen. We will provide a full recap once we learn more.
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