Square Tops Sales Estimates on Growth of Bigger Merchants
- Company forecast full-year sales in line with estimates
- Volume of payments handled by Square rose 34% from a year ago
Square Inc., the electronic-payments company run by Twitter Inc. Chief Executive Officer Jack Dorsey, topped sales estimates for the fourth quarter, bolstered by larger merchants that are contributing an increasing share of Square’s payments volume. The shares climbed as much as 9 percent in extended trading.
Square has steadily gained larger merchants on its platform by offering more services such as loans through Square Capital, food delivery through Caviar and tools for managing inventory and analyzing sales. Yet to win a greater share of the market for bigger customers, Square will face competition from more established rivals like PayPal Holdings Inc. and First Data Corp. Square’s shares have increased 45 percent during the past 12 months as the San Francisco-based company became profitable on a basis of adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization.