Block Inc. shares climbed more than 7% in late trading on Nov. 3 after the payments company reported third-quarter results that exceeded Wall Street estimates and lifted its full-year outlook for the third consecutive time.
For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Block posted adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share, up from 54 cents a year earlier, on revenue of $6.72 billion, a gain of nearly 10% year over year. Analysts had expected $1.03 per share on revenue of $6.58 billion. Gross profit rose 22% to $3.24 billion, topping the company's own guidance, while adjusted operating income nearly doubled to a record $923 million and the adjusted operating margin reached 29% of gross profit. Product development spending fell 11% from a year earlier, which Block attributed to the workforce cut it made in February.
Unadjusted operating income grew 5% to $428 million, weighed down by $435 million in contingencies, restructuring and other charges. Net income attributable to common stockholders was $566 million, compared with $462 million a year earlier.
Cash App gross profit increased 27% to $2.07 billion, and monthly transacting actives hit 60 million in September. Block credited Neighborhoods as a key driver after the loyalty network automatically enrolled more than 30,000 Square seller locations in August. Consumer lending originations rose 40% to $19 billion, led by Cash App Borrow and Afterpay Post-Purchase, while transaction, loan and consumer receivable losses rose 66% alongside that lending growth. Square gross payment volume grew 14% to $76.4 billion, its fastest rate since the first quarter of 2023, with U.S. growth accelerating to 10.4%, and Square gross profit kept pace at $1.16 billion. Block's bitcoin business contracted again, with gross profit there halving to $52 million after the company reduced fees on certain bitcoin transactions in Cash App.
Among business highlights, Block released an alpha version of Buzz, an open-source workspace for people and AI agents, in July, and has shipped more than two dozen updates since. Cash App Tags tap-to-pay hardware reached general availability in August, and in September Block said it would open Cash App Score, its in-house credit score, to outside lenders through Nova Credit Inc. Much of Chief Executive Jack Dorsey's shareholder letter addressed AI; he wrote that Block has meaningfully crossed the chasm in turning itself into a company that streams intelligence as people need it. Pilots of Buzz with prospective customers began in October, Block expects to book its first machine intelligence revenue in the fourth quarter, and Builderlab, the ecosystem it created to sell Buzz and related tools to other companies, will be formally introduced at a San Francisco event on Nov. 10.
For the fourth quarter, Block guided gross profit growth of 15% to $3.32 billion and adjusted earnings of $1.15 per share, a cent below the $1.16 analysts expected. For the full year, it now projects gross profit of $12.63 billion, up from the $12.51 billion forecast in August, and adjusted earnings of $4.15 per share, up from $4.02, against a consensus estimate of $4.06. A preliminary 2027 outlook calls for gross profit growth of at least 15% to $14.52 billion and a 30% rise in adjusted operating income to $4.58 billion, well above the $3.51 billion target Block set at its November 2025 investor day.
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