Block Tops Q4 Estimates, Posts Nearly $2B in Bitcoin Transactions

Fintech and digital payments giant Block reported better-than-expected 2021 fourth quarter results after the market closed on Thursday.

• Total revenue was $4.08 billion, up 29% year-over-year, narrowly topping the $4.04 billion analyst consensus. Excluding bitcoin, revenue totaled $2.12 billion, up 51% on the prior year. Adjusted EPS was $0.27 versus the $0.19 estimate.
• The peer-to-peer payment service Cash App, which allows users to directly buy and sell bitcoin, generated $1.96 billion of bitcoin transactions and $46 million of gross profit in Q4, up 12% and 14% year over year, respectively. For perspective, total company gross profit for Q4 was $1.18 billion.
• Of the $220 million of bitcoin put on the company balance sheet in late 2020 and early 2021, Block didn’t book an impairment loss in Q4, leaving the full year impairment charge at $71 million, and carrying value at $149 million. As of year's end, the fair value of the bitcoin investment was $371 million, or $222 million greater than the carrying value.
• Square announced its Block rebranding in December to reflect the company’s expansion beyond its roots of processing payments to sellers. On the crypto front, Block currently allows the approximately 70 million users of its Cash App to buy and sell bitcoin. The company is also building a decentralized bitcoin exchange and funding bitcoin developer projects.