What happened
Shares of fintech giant Square (SQ 1.84%), soon to be known as Block, fell as much as 5.1% on Thursday as many growth stocks lost momentum. Shares are down 3.4% at 12:20 p.m. ET and have been bouncing near their lows for the day.
So what
The biggest news of the day was that U.S. unemployment claims were just 184,000 last week, the lowest since 1969. A strong labor market is good for the economy, but it could also mean things like higher inflation and the Federal Reserve trying to push interest rates higher.
Image source: Square.
Yesterday, Square did release its Future of Commerce Report, which highlighted that 69% of restaurants plan to continue online ordering after COVID-19 subsides, 49% plan to offer their own delivery service, while 62% plan to offer third-party delivery. Square also sees the beauty business evolving with more customers demanding salons have features like a website and retail products. These trends should favor Square's seller business, although the market isn't seeing the benefit today.
Now what
The market's volatility lately has hit growth stocks hardest and Square is no different. Shares have been beaten up the last couple of months along with the tech- and growth-stock market, but keep in mind that shares are still up 210% over the last three years. Long-term, Square is a great company disrupting how we use money and that's a great position for investors to be in, even if the ride is volatile.
