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While Twitter (TWTR) shares wilt under the threat of government regulation, Jack Dorsey’s other company is on the precipice of an all-time high stock price.
Square (SQ) stock, which was trading at $89.65 per share Monday afternoon, is up an eye-popping 158% this year, and 228% over the past 12 months. Since Aug. 1, the stock has improved 34%.
And Square’s all-time of $91.64 may just be a stop on the way bigger and better things, according to Wall Street firm Guggenheim. It recently raised its price target on Square to $100 from $75, and named Square its “new best idea” and “highest conviction name” in fintech.
Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images
“We expect a strong rate of revenue growth for SQ which should drive further share price appreciation,” Guggenheim analyst Jeff Cantwell said in a note to clients late last month.
Read more: Our recent cover story on how Jack Dorsey is a double-duty CEO for Twitter and Square
The payments company’s ascent has come thanks to a combination of an expansion into multiple financial services and a pivot into cryptocurrency. It has established a footprint in lending for small businesses, most recently with a partnership with eBay in July, and its peer-to-peer Cash App is growing faster than PayPal Holdings’ (PYPL) Venmo, according to a recent report from Nomura.
Last month, Square reported second-quarter earnings of 13 cents a share on a 60% jump in year-over-year adjusted revenue, to $385 million. It was the San Francisco-based company’s fifth straight quarter of revenue growth. It offered third-quarter revenue guidance of $407 million to $412 million, above the $350.1 million to $408.2 million forecast from Wall Street.
If only things were so good for Twitter. The company’s shares have slumped 13%, to $30.34 midday Monday, since Dorsey gave blunt testimony to Congress on the company’s progress in extinguishing misinformation and hate speech.
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