CE 100 Index Loses 0.4% Despite Block and Nvidia’s Post-Earnings Rallies

Significant stock rallies in the wake of earnings from companies including Block (Square’s parent company) and Nvidia were not enough to boost the CE 100 Index’s fortunes.

The Index sank 0.4% for the week.

Shares of Block were up 20.2%, driving the Pay and Be Paid segment 2.2% higher.

As we reported this past week, Block’s latest earnings show more users opting to use Cash App Cards.  The company detailed that at as of the latest quarter, 2 million actives (3% of total monthly transacting actives) were depositing their paycheck into Cash App each month, relative to 23 million Cash App Card monthly actives (41% of monthly transacting actives, which stood at 56 million).   In December alone, the company recorded a 20% jump in Cash App Card monthly active users to 23 million, more than twice the growth rate of total monthly actives.

“We see the Cash App Card as a gateway to our customers adopting Cash App as a primary banking solution,” CEO Jack Dorsey stated in the latest shareholder’s letter that accompanied results.

Management noted strength in the company’s BNPL Platform in the fourth quarter of 2023, with $8.6 billion in GMV up 25% year over year, driven by Pay-in-Four offerings.  Square generated $1.5 billion of transaction-based revenue in the fourth quarter of 2023, up 10% year over year.

Dorsey said on the conference call with analysts that that Block will seek “to make sure that we are the best choice and the first choice for anyone who’s making $150,000 to see Cash App as their primary bank” as the company focuses its banking efforts, marked by no fees and early direct deposit availability, for its base in the United States.

Nvidia shares gathered 8.5%.  As reported here, the company’s fourth quarter and fiscal year 2024 earnings call, the company revealed that its revenue grew 265% compared to Q4 2023, and was up 22% from its most recent quarter.

“Accelerated computing and generative AI have hit the tipping point. Demand is surging worldwide across companies, industries, and nations,” said Jensen Huang, CEO. Nvidia’s Data Center compute revenue was up 488% from a year ago and up 27% sequentially in the fourth quarter; it was up 244% in the fiscal year. Networking revenue was up 217% from a year ago.

DoorDash Dashes Higher

DoorDash shares gained 5%. PYMNTS noted in the wake of earnings, as CEO Tony Xu spoke to the rapid pace of the aggregator’s growth in the category.  “When you look at selection, that’s something that we’re working towards,” Xu said.  In the quarter, DoorDash saw a 23% year-over-year (YoY) increase in total orders, reaching 574 million, and a 22% YoY increase in marketplace gross order value, totaling $17.6 billion.  Management also noted the significant potential of DashPass and Wolt+ subscription programs.

“There’s 100 possible use cases per month for every consumer, in terms of the categories and their consumption, whether that’s eating or buying and retail — even for our best customers, and certainly for the average subscribers,” Xu said. “If we [can] serve every use case for local commerce, I think the subscriber base would be fairly healthy.”

But these gains were more than overtaken by the Live sector’s 2.7%, slide and Teledoc Health’s 31% plunge was at the forefront of the “Be Well” pillar’s 2.1% dip, as the company posted revenue growth guidance in the mid single digits, which was below Wall Street expectations..  The company’s most recent earnings report showed that revenues gained 4% to $661 million.  The company’s U.S. Integrated Care membership roster stood at 89.6 million in the latest quarter, down from 90.2 million in the third quarter.  BetterHelp paying users were 425,000 in the most recent period, down from 459,000 in the third quarter.

Fiverr sank 16.7%, leading the Work segment 0.6% lower.

The company said in its latest earnings report that quarterly revenue of $91.5 million was up 10.1% year over year.  Active buyers dipped 5% during the quarter, from 4.3 million to 4.1 million. Spending per buyer climbed 6%, from $262 to $278.