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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 big losses.

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 Ahuja said 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.

WATCH: Block shares pop on earnings beat

Block shares pop on Q4 earnings beat

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After 300 years of innovation, Husqvarna definitely dreams of electric sheep

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After 300 years of innovation, Husqvarna definitely dreams of electric sheep

Founded in 1689, Husqvarna was a musket maker for the king of Sweden – but now, the company best known for quirky motorcycles and commercial riding mowers is becoming an innovator in the field of robotics, and its latest fleet of electric autonomous mowers are eager to get grazing.

Husqvarna’s autonomous lawnmowers made history earlier this year at the AIG Women’s Open, when they became the first autonomous groundskeeping solution to see duty during a UK Major golf week.

“At the AIG Women’s Open, the Husqvarna portfolio is helping us deliver this goal through improved resource management, regular lightweight mowing and reduced carbon usage,” explains Royal Porthcawl’s Course Manager, Ian Kinley, who has championed the use of robotic technology at the course. “With the AIG Women’s Open set to be the largest-ever women’s sporting event in Wales, we know there’s tremendous pressure to produce playing surfaces that are worthy of such a high-profile event.”

The robots themselves operate a bit differently than Husqvarna’s traditional line of big, bad, zero-turn riding mowers that whip through thick grass once or twice a month with heavy, whirling blades. Instead, they employ a series of tiny razor blades that gently nibble at the grass daily – just like little electric sheep grazing on the turf.

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“That cutting system, developed by Husqvarna engineers, has then become the basis for the entire robot mower industry, of which we’re the market leader,” Nick Rawson, VP of Strategy and Business Development at Husqvarna told Forbes.

Events like the AIG Women’s Open are proving that the little robot Huskies can get the job done quietly, sustainably, and with significantly less operator input. As such, you’d think everyone at Husqvarna would be excited about them.

You’d be wrong. The company’s franchise dealers have been hesitant to push them forward, effectively putting the parent company in the position of going B2C, or going home.

“Dealers live and breathe the previous technology,” said Yvette Henshall-Bell, Husqvarna’s President of its Forest and Garden division for Europe, in that same Forbes piece. “They want to protect that servicing, that aftermarket revenue. Whereas if they really thought about what the customer’s problems are and the job to be done, they would be looking at a completely different solution.”

A solution, frankly, that looks a lot like a little robot mower.

The things, themselves


Autonomous mowers at Women’s Open; via Husqvarna.

Husqvarna offers three types of autonomous electric mowers aimed at commercial golf courses, but the Husqvarna CEORA for large-area mowing, and Husqvarna Automower, for smaller, steeper and more complex areas, are the models relevant to this story.

The bigger CEORA can handle up to 18 acres of ground twice each week, while the Automower, with its 80V battery and pinpoint precision EPOS (Exact Positioning Operating System) software, can handle another 2.5 acres. Both are fully electric, and can guide themselves back to their pens to recharge as needed.

Prices aren’t public, but the Husqvarna CEORA and Automowers are available as part of a custom lease package through Husqvarna Finance that will include access to the company’s customizable back end and ongoing support. Check with your local dealer for more.

Electrek’s Take


As a typically pro-union, pro-labor type of guy, I am hesitant to heap praise upon a robot taking away anyone’s job. That said, it does seem to be difficult for landscapers and construction crews to keep and find good labor at rates they can afford (and, let’s face it – the current Trump Administration isn’t going to be making that any easier). As such, if companies like Husqvarna and John Deere and Einride and others can build a demonstrably better mousetrap at a compelling price point … good for them. (?)

Let us know what you think in the comments.

SOURCES: Forbes, Golf Monthly; images by Husqvarna.


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Podcast: Apple CarPlay in Tesla cars, VW on Superchargers, Toyota electric pickup, and more

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Podcast: Apple CarPlay in Tesla cars, VW on Superchargers, Toyota electric pickup, and more

In the Electrek Podcast, we discuss the most popular news in the world of sustainable transport and energy. In this week’s episode, we discuss Apple CarPlay possibly coming to Tesla cars, VW getting access to Superchargers, a Toyota electric pickup, and more.

The show is live every Friday at 4 p.m. ET on Electrek’s YouTube channel.

As a reminder, we’ll have an accompanying post, like this one, on the site with an embedded link to the live stream. Head to the YouTube channel to get your questions and comments in.

After the show ends at around 5 p.m. ET, the video will be archived on YouTube and the audio on all your favorite podcast apps:

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We now have a Patreon if you want to help us avoid more ads and invest more in our content. We have some awesome gifts for our Patreons and more coming.

Here are a few of the articles that we will discuss during the podcast:

Here’s the live stream for today’s episode starting at 4:00 p.m. ET (or the video after 5 p.m. ET:

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October EV sales slid, but deals and rebates are still in play

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October EV sales slid, but deals and rebates are still in play

US EV sales declined in October following the expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit on September 30, and the average transaction price (ATP) edged up, according to initial estimates from Kelley Blue Book, a Cox Automotive brand. However, there are still deals to be had.

Kelley Blue Book’s initial estimates show that US EV sales fell to 74,835 in October, down 48.9% from September, which was a record month, and 30.3% year-over-year.

Prices also ticked up. The average transaction price (ATP) for a new EV climbed 1.6% month-over-month to $59,125, which is 2.3% higher than a year ago.

Tesla didn’t escape the downturn, but it held up better than the overall EV market. The company’s ATP fell 1.1% from September to $53,526, and its prices are 5.5% lower than they were in October 2024. Sales of the Model 3 and Model Y both declined month-over-month, and overall Tesla sales decreased by 35.3% from September and 23.6% year-over-year, which are smaller declines compared to the broader EV segment.

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Cox Automotive senior analyst Stephanie Valdez Streaty said the shift wasn’t surprising:

We expected this shift in the electric vehicle market. With the IRA-backed sales incentives gone, lower-cost EV volume was hit hard, pushing the mix toward more luxury and driving October’s EV ATP to a 2025 high of $59,125 – now $9,359 above the industry average. Affordability has always been the core challenge with EV sales, and this reset only underscores how critical it is to bring more attainable EV options to market.

Electrek’s Take

September was a record-breaking month for both EV deals and sales. Dealers were offering all sorts of sweet incentives to stack with the federal tax credit to move cars off the lot. October’s sales drop was entirely anticipated, like a pounding headache after a big blowout party.

We didn’t know what the post-federal tax credit EV market would look like. As Valdez Streaty rightly states, EVs do have a higher ATP than the industry average. But it turns out that, so far, it’s not all doom and gloom, and the federal tax credit isn’t the only incentive in town.

Every month, I compile great EV lease deals, and for the last few months, some EVs’ monthly lease payments have been cheaper than before the federal tax credit expired. Many states are still offering rebates on EV purchases, and dealers still have really good deals. While cheaper models would definitely be welcome, there are good deals available right now.

And let’s not forget the fact that EVs are much cheaper to drive than gas cars, with or without that tax credit.

Read more: From $189 a month: 5 of the best EV lease deals in November [Updated]


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