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Square beats Q4 earnings targets, revenue up 21 percent

Square's gross payment volume (GPV), a key metric for the payments company, ticked up to $13.7 billion.
Written by Natalie Gagliordi, Contributor

Square delivered better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings that sent its stock soaring after the bell Wednesday.

The mobile payments processor reported a Q4 net loss of $15 million, or four cents a share. Revenue was $452 million, up 21 percent over the same quarter last year.

Wall Street was bracing for a loss of nine cents a share on revenue of $449.6 million.

For the full year of 2016, Square said adjusted revenue was $687 million, an increase of 52 percent above 2015.

Square's gross payment volume (GPV), a key metric for the payments company, ticked up to $13.7 billion, an increase of 34 percent from the same period a year ago. GPV from larger sellers, defined by Square as merchants generating more than $125,000 in annualized revenue, grew 47 percent year over year, attributing 42 percent of GPV for the quarter.

Square also said it processed more than 40,000 business loans as part of Square Capital for a total of $248 million.

Looking at the rest of Square's balance sheet, the company's fourth quarter transactional revenue came in at $402 million. Revenue from its software and data products, including Square Capital, climbed to $41 million, up 81 percent compared to the year-ago period. The company's hardware revenue ticked up to $9 million.

For 2016, transactional revenue was $1.5 billion, up 39 percent; subscription and services-based revenue was $129 million, an increase of 123 percent; and hardware revenue was $44 million, up 171 percent. GPV for the year was $50 billion, up 39 percent year over year.

For the current quarter, Square expects net revenue between $440 million to $452 million.

Square's stock climbed more than four percent in after-hours trading.

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