What happened
Block (SQ +0.39%) was down big in morning trading on Monday, climbed back up as the day went on, then plummeted again late in the day. The fintech stock fell about 3.9% to $69.60 just after the market opened, but by 3:35 p.m. ET it was down about 1.5% to $70.74.
It was a down day on the markets overall, but another analyst lowering Blockʻs price target certainly didn't help.
So what
On Monday, analysts at Oppenheimer lowered Block's price target from $150 to $112. That is still a 57% increase over the current price; however, the stock price is down 55% year to date and 73% over the past year as of July 25. Last week, analysts at J.P. Morgan dropped the target from $150 to $107 on fears of continued economic weakness in the second half, reported The Fly.
NYSE: SQ
Key Data Points
Also, research analysts at Jefferies Financial cut their earnings per share (EPS) estimates for Block to negative $0.44 per share for the second quarter, down from the previous estimate of negative $0.43, reported MarketBeat.
It was also a bad day for technology stocks in general, as the Nasdaq was down 118 points, or 1%, as of 3:35 p.m. ET. The drop may be due to expectations of the Federal Reserve Board hiking rates another 75 basis points when it meets Tuesday and Wednesday this week. Higher rates to slow down inflation, and potentially economic growth, would not be ideal for tech stocks.
Now what
This is a big week, beyond the Fed meeting. A lot of the major tech companies -- Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, and Meta Platforms -- report earnings this week. These will all impact the Nasdaq, and Block, as a technology stock.
But Block investors should also be watching the two big payment companies, Mastercard and Visa, both of which release Q2 earnings this week. Block posts second-quarter earnings on Aug. 4.
