Shares of Block Inc. rose more than 7% in late trading today after the payments and financial services company beat third-quarter expectations and raised its full-year guidance for the third straight time.

For the quarter that ended on Sept. 30, Block reported adjusted earnings of $1.13 per share, up from 54 cents in the same quarter of the previous year, on revenue of $6.72 billion, up nearly 10% year-over-year. Analysts were expecting $1.03 per share on revenue of $6.58 billion.

Gross profit grew 22%, to $3.24 billion, and finished ahead of the company’s own guidance. Adjusted operating income almost doubled, to a record $923 million, and the adjusted operating margin rose to 29% of gross profit. Product development spending fell 11% from a year earlier, reflecting the workforce cut Block made in February.

Operating income on an unadjusted basis rose a more modest 5%, to $428 million, held back by $435 million in contingencies, restructuring and other charges. Net income attributable to common stockholders came to $566 million, compared with $462 million a year earlier.

Cash App gross profit grew 27% to $2.07 billion. Monthly transacting actives reached 60 million in September, and Block named Neighborhoods as a key driver after the loyalty network auto-enrolled more than 30,000 Square seller locations in August. Consumer lending originations rose 40% to $19 billion, led by Cash App Borrow and Afterpay Post-Purchase. Transaction, loan and consumer receivable losses climbed 66% as that lending grew.

Square gross payment volume grew 14%, to $76.4 billion, the fastest rate since the first quarter of 2023, with U.S. growth accelerating to 10.4%. Square’s gross profit kept pace at $1.16 billion. Block’s bitcoin business shrank again, as gross profit there halved to $52 million after the company cut fees on certain bitcoin transactions in Cash App.

Business highlights in the quarter included the July alpha release of Buzz, an open-source workspace for people and AI agents that has since had more than two dozen updates. General availability of Cash App Tags tap-to-pay hardware followed in August. In September, Block said it would open Cash App Score, its in-house credit score, to outside lenders through Nova Credit Inc.

Much of Chief Executive Jack Dorsey’s shareholder letter dealt with AI. Block, he wrote, has “meaningfully crossed the chasm” in turning itself into a company that “streams intelligence as people need it.”

Pilots of Buzz with prospective customers began in October, and Block expects to book its first machine intelligence revenue in the fourth quarter. Builderlab, the ecosystem Block created to sell Buzz and related tools to other companies, will be formally introduced at a San Francisco event on Nov. 10.

Fourth-quarter guidance calls for gross profit to grow 15%, to $3.32 billion. Adjusted earnings are forecast at $1.15 per share, a cent below the $1.16 analysts had expected. For the full year, Block now projects gross profit of $12.63 billion, up from the $12.51 billion it forecast in August, and adjusted earnings of $4.15 per share, up from $4.02. The consensus estimate was $4.06.

A preliminary outlook for 2027 calls for gross profit to grow at least 15%, to $14.52 billion. Adjusted operating income is expected to rise 30% next year, to $4.58 billion, well above the $3.51 billion target Block set at its investor day in November 2025.

Image: Block