Block price target lowered to $55 from $69 at Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette lowered the firm’s price target on Block to $55 from $69 and keeps an Equal Weight rating on the shares. The company is “clearly on its way” to becoming a “Bank + Payments” company and recent trading valuation doesn’t give Block full credit for achieving its “Rule of 40” objectives, argues the analyst. However, the firm sees lots of new products/new initiatives being needed to achieve its objectives and highlights what it calls “some eyebrow-raising drags,” including 9% year-over-year U.S. Seller GPV growth and higher contribution from financial products.