Should Square Stop Sandbagging Its Guidance?

Square's stock (NYSE: SQ) recently dipped after the online payments provider posted its second-quarter earnings. At first glance, Square's headline numbers looked solid: Its adjusted revenue rose 46% annually to $563 million, beating estimates by about $5 million. Its adjusted EBITDA grew 54% to $105 million, and its adjusted EPS climbed 62% to $0.21 and cleared expectations by a nickel.

However, Square's gross payment volume (GPV), which grew 25% annually to $26.8 billion, slightly missed the consensus forecast of $27 billion. Square's guidance for the third quarter was also mixed.

It expects its adjusted revenue to rise 37%-39% annually, which matches analysts' expectations. But on the bottom line, it expects an adjusted EPS of $0.18-$0.20, which marks 38%-54% growth but misses expectations of $0.22 per share.

Quelle Fool.com