What happened
The stock market started July off on a positive note, with all of the major averages marginally higher as of 12:30 p.m. EDT. However, fast-growing fintech Square (SQ 1.44%) was a major standout, with shares up by 9% to about $114. If the gains hold for the rest of the day, this will be a new all-time high closing price for Square, and by a considerable margin.
So what
Square has had quite a bit of momentum behind it recently. It has done an excellent job helping its sellers through the COVID-19 pandemic by being a PPP loan facilitator and helping sellers pivot to online and curbside selling, and its Cash App got a major boost from the stimulus checks. Square had more than tripled since the March lows (before today's move), so it's fair to say that the market is generally optimistic about the company's ability to not only weather the pandemic, but to thrive despite it.
Image source: Square.
Today's move seems to be fueled by an analyst upgrade, after a Rosenblatt analyst raised Square to "buy" from "neutral" with a $121 price target. The analyst sees Square's Cash App revenue more than tripling in the next five years as the company continues to build out its consumer finance ecosystem.
Now what
Today's move pushes Square's market cap beyond $50 billion, and this means the fintech stock is now trading for nearly 10 times sales. However, if Square can successfully build its Cash App business like the analyst suggests and can continue to help its merchants set up omnichannel commerce solutions, there could be even more upside ahead.
