Square Reports Wider 1Q Loss, Payment Volume Slowdown Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

   By Maria Armental 
 

Square Inc. reported first-quarter results on Wednesday, offering a glimpse into the effects of the coronavirus pandemic. Here's what you need to know:

PROFIT: Net loss widened to $106 million, or 24 cents a share, from $38.2 million, or 9 cents a share, a year earlier. On an adjusted basis, Square reported a loss of 2 cents a share.

REVENUE: Net revenue rose to $1.38 billion from $959.4 million a year earlier. Square had projected $1.30 billion to $1.34 billion.

PAYMENT VOLUME: Gross payment volume rose 14% to $25.7 billion, compared with the $27.26 billion analysts projected.

OUTLOOK: Square, which had withdrawn financial projections for the year, didn't give guidance for the year or second quarter on Wednesday, citing the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.

PANDEMIC: Square is more exposed to small businesses, hard hit by the pandemic, and had warned that the coronavirus pandemic had hit gross processing volume starting in March and conditions worsened later in the month. During the last two weeks of the quarter, the company said, seller gross payment volume dropped 35% year over year, which Square attributed to the pandemic.

Square, one of the firms approved to distribute Paycheck Protection Program loans, began distributing loans to Square sellers during the second round of funding for the PPP in April, the company said.

Write to Maria Armental at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 06, 2020 17:00 ET (21:00 GMT)

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