- Mizuho analyst Dan Dolev downgraded Block, Inc (NYSE:SQ) to Neutral from Buy with a price target of $57, down from $125.
- After years of being deemed the most innovative name in payments, “user fatigue, plateauing inflows, loss of the best-of-breed” point of sale status, and buy now pay later “misexecution” are blocking Block’s growth, Dolev noted.
- Block “still has enormous potential, but it is not being realized.”
- Also Read: Payment Firms Square, PayPal Get Widely Different Views In Eyes Of Wall Street Amid BNPL Woes, Juicy Margins
- Instead, BNPL estimates continue to come down & projects like Bitcoin, which accounts for <5% of gross profit, seem to preoccupy management’s attention disproportionately.
- He believes Block shares no longer deserve a premium valuation relative to the U.S. payments sector.
- Recently Dolev recommended buying shares of Affirm Holdings, Inc (NASDAQ:AFRM) on weakness following plans of a government crackdown on the BNPL sector.
- Dolev considered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s buy now pay later report as “less harmful than feared.”
- The “lack of a clear call for action is a positive,” he noted.
- Price Action: SQ shares traded lower by 5.97% at $55.90 on the last check Thursday.
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NICE (NASDAQ:NICE) and Cognizant (NASDAQ:CTSH) today announced the launch of a
