Square (SQ) earnings Q2 2020

Shares of Square soared on Tuesday evening after posting better-than-expected quarterly results and strong growth in its consumer payments app.

The San Francisco-based company reported $1.92 billion in net revenue for the second quarter — a 64{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} jump year over year. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 18 cents, far better than the 5 cent loss analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected. Net loss was $11 million on a GAAP basis.

Square stock jumped as much as 11{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} in after-hours trading. 

Its peer-to-peer Cash App, a competitor to PayPal’s Venmo, helped drive Square’s revenue performance in the second quarter. Gross gross profit for the app rose 167{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} year over year to $281 million. Stored funds, or the amount of money customers keep on the app, jumped 86{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} from the prior quarter. Users jumped to 30 million, up from 26 million in December, according to the company.

Cash App saw “meaningful uplift” from users having more funds in their wallet, in part thanks to government stimulus checks, CFO Amrita Ahuja said on a call with reporters Tuesday evening.  

Still, the company is heavily indexed to small businesses, such as coffee shops and restaurants, through its in-person payment terminals. Many of those brick-and-mortar businesses were forced to shut their doors amid the pandemic. Gross profit for Square’s core seller business fell 9{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} year over year to $316 million. 

In the meantime, a bulk of Square sellers moved online. Gross payment volume from online channels was up 50{3c4481f38fc19dde56b7b1f4329b509c88239ba5565146922180ec5012de023f} year over year, the company said, and made up more than a quarter of seller payment volume. 

The company was due to report earnings after the bell Wednesday, but issued its numbers a day early after Bloomberg News reported the numbers ahead of time.