It’s a week of farewells and new beginnings for Jack Dorsey. Following his resignation as Twitter CEO at the start of the week, Dorsey’s remaining focal point, Square (SQ), has announced it will change its name to Block.
The company said the change of moniker reflects its progress from purely a digital-payments company to a wider ecosystem incorporating several business avenues. The change is meant to legally go into effect around December 10.
The company’s Bitcoin-focused endeavor – Square Crypto – will also get a new name, Spiral, although the Seller segment will still go on under the Square brand. The Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 (a decentralized exchange based on the Bitcoin blockchain announced in August) — will also stay as they are. The name changes won’t result in any organizational reshuffles.
The rebranding is the second major recent transformation, following Facebook’s rebranding to Meta which was intended to better reflect the company’s new metaverse endeavors.
Square’s press release said the new name has “many associated meanings for the company – building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome.”
However, while the word “blockchain” was just casually tossed in there, given Dorsey’s well-known passion for Bitcoin, BTIG’s Mark Palmer notes investors are likely to read between the lines as to the real intentions behind the new moniker.
“We believe the change will be interpreted by many observers as an indication that the company will be leaning further into its initiatives focused on crypto and decentralized ledger technology,” the 5-star analyst said.
There are changes all around, then, but not to Palmer’s Buy rating or $320 price target, which suggests shares will climb ~69% over the coming months. (To watch Palmer’s track record, click here)
Overall, SQ stock has been reviewed by 22 analysts over the past 3 months, with 17 recommending to Buy and 5 saying Hold, all coalescing to a Strong Buy consensus rating. Like many previously high-flying growth names, the shares have struggled in 2021 (down by 11%), but going by the $305.57 average target, they are expected to yield returns of 57% in the year ahead. (See SQ stock analysis on TipRanks)
To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a newly launched tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.
