Square‘s (NYSE: SQ) stock recently tumbled after the payment service provider posted its first-quarter earnings. The headline numbers initially looked solid: Its adjusted revenue rose 59% annually to $489 million, clearing estimates by $9 million. Its non-GAAP EPS rose 83% to $0.11, also beating expectations by three cents.
But Square’s guidance spooked the bulls. For the second quarter it expects its adjusted revenue to rise 42%-44%, compared to expectations for 44% growth. It expects its adjusted EPS to come in between $0.14 and $0.16, which would represent 8%-23% growth. Analysts had expected $0.18 per share.
Continue Reading Below
However, investors should realize that Square usually “sandbags” its guidance with conservative numbers, which lowers expectations and enables it to easily beat estimates next time.
How Square sandbags its guidance
Square’s habit of sandbagging its guidance is easy to track. Here’s how Square’s guidance compared to its actual earnings over the past year:
|
Adjusted EPS |
Q1 2018 |
Q2 2018 |
Q3 2018 |
Q4 2018 |
Q1 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Guidance |
$0.03-$0.05 |
$0.09-$0.11 |
$0.08-$0.10 |
$0.12-$0.13 |
$0.06-$0.08 |
|
Actual |
$0.06 |
$0.13 |
$0.13 |
$0.14 |
$0.11 |
If Square really expected a significant slowdown, it would have reduced its full-year guidance. However, Square actually reiterated its full-year adjusted EPS forecast of $0.74-$0.78, while raising its full-year adjusted revenue guidance from $2.22-$2.25 billion to $2.22-$2.28 billion — which suggests that its “soft” second-quarter guidance is all smoke and mirrors.
Advertisement
Keep your eye on the ball
Instead of focusing on Square’s guidance game, investors should focus on the company’s core growth engines.
Square’s GPV (gross payment volume), or the value of all transactions processed on its platform, rose 27% annually to $22.6 billion during the first quarter. 51% of that total now comes from “large” sellers, which generate over $125,000 in annualized GPV, versus 47% a year ago. For comparison, Square’s larger rival PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) posted 22% year-over-year growth in its payment volume last quarter.
Square’s subscription and services revenue rose 126% annually to $219 million, or 23% of its net revenue, marking the segment’s fourth straight quarter of triple-digit growth:
|
Metric |
Q1 2018 |
Q2 2018 |
Q3 2018 |
Q4 2018 |
Q1 2019 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Subscription & services revenue |
$97 million |
$134 million |
$166 million |
$194 million |
$219 million |
|
YOY growth |
98% |
127% |
155% |
144% |
126% |
|
Percentage of net revenue |
14% |
16% |
19% |
21% |
23% |
This indicates that Square’s expanding services ecosystem — which includes its Cash App, Caviar food delivery service, Zesty catering platform, Square Capital, Instant Deposit for sellers, its e-commerce services platform Weebly, and industry-specific bundles like Square for Restaurants and Square for Retail — is locking in more shoppers and merchants.
During its conference call, Square stated that the payment volumes on its consumer-facing Cash App had risen 2.5 times annually. Its closest rival, PayPal’s Venmo, posted 73% annual growth in payment volumes last quarter. Square Capital, which provides financing for businesses, reported a 50% increase in loans.
Square’s smaller hardware business also continues to grow, thanks to its introduction of Square Terminal and a new Square Reader for contactless and chip-based payments. The segment’s revenue grew 26% annually to $18 million during the quarter, indicating that it’s still disrupting the market for traditional POS (point of sale) systems.
But mind the pitfalls…
I own shares of Square, and I think it’s still a great long-term play on a cashless society. However, investors should be wary of three issues.
First, it isn’t profitable in GAAP terms. By that metric, which includes stock-based compensation expenses and other one-time charges, its net loss widened from $24 million to $38 million between the first quarters of 2018 and 2019.
Second, the expansion of Square’s subscription and services ecosystem requires the acquisition of smaller companies and the development of new features. That’s why its non-GAAP operating expenses surged 54% annually during the first quarter.
Lastly, Square’s stock isn’t cheap. Square expects its adjusted EPS to rise about 62% this year, but the stock trades at over 90 times that earnings estimate. For comparison, PayPal expects 23% adjusted earnings growth this year, and its stock trades at roughly 36 times that estimate.
The bottom line
Square isn’t a stock for queasy investors, but it still has plenty of upside potential. Investors should ignore its sandbagged guidance and focus on its GPV growth and the expansion of its subscription and services ecosystem instead.
10 stocks we like better than SquareWhen investing geniuses David and Tom Gardner have a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has quadrupled the market.*
David and Tom just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now… and Square wasn’t one of them! That’s right — they think these 10 stocks are even better buys.
*Stock Advisor returns as of March 1, 2019
Leo Sun owns shares of Square. The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends PayPal Holdings and Square. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
