XYZ Stock Surges On Price Target Hikes After Earnings Beat, Guidance Raise – But One Analyst Remains 'Skeptical'

• XYZ stock jumped on Friday after the company posted record first-quarter results and raised full-year 2026 guidance.
• Chief Executive Jack Dorsey said the company is focused on building “proactive” AI products, with Moneybot rolling out across Cash App and Managerbot expanding to more than one million Square sellers.
• Goldman Sachs, Citi, and Keefe Bruyette all raised price targets on XYZ stock following the earnings report.

Block Inc. (XYZ) shares surged roughly 10% in pre-market trade on Thursday after the Jack Dorsey-led fintech reported a record-breaking first quarter. Wall Street analysts rushed to raise price targets, but at least one major firm is pushing back on the enthusiasm.

The San Francisco-based company, which operates Cash App, Square, and Afterpay, posted adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.85, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 on Koyfin. Revenue came in at $6.06 billion, just a whisker's gap above the expected $6.03 billion.

Block also raised its full-year 2026 guidance, now targeting $12.33 billion in gross profit, representing 19% growth, along with $3.85 in adjusted diluted EPS.

XYZ’s stock rose over 10% in pre-market trade, before trimming gains to around 8% at market open. Retail sentiment on Stocktwits around the stock rose to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ territory over the past day. Chatter rose to ‘extremely high’ from ‘high’ levels. 

Wall Street Raises Price Targets After Earnings Beat

Piper Sandler raised its price target to $58 from $51 following the results but kept its ‘Underweight’ rating, the equivalent of a sell recommendation, as per TheFly.

The firm stated that Block "certainly picked up operating leverage via its recent restructuring and focus on agentic product development and back office workflows," but said it "remains skeptical of the company's lofty growth targets and the sustainability of recent margin expansion."

Meanwhile, Goldman Sachs raised its price target on Block to $95 from $86 and kept a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. Citi raised its price target to $100 from $85 and also kept a ‘Buy’ rating on XYZ’s stock, while Keefe Bruyette raised its price target to $90 from $85 and kept an ‘Outperform’ rating.

The gap between Piper's $58 target and Citi's $100 target reflects a genuine disagreement on Wall Street over Block's AI-driven efficiency gains. 

Jack Dorsey’s Bet On AI

In the shareholder letter, Dorsey said the company is focused on building AI products that move beyond basic assistants. “Most AI products today are assistants or advisors: a human asks, AI answers,” Dorsey wrote. “We think the next step is AI that is proactive.”

Cash App now includes “Moneybot,” while “Managerbot” is being deployed to more than one million Square sellers ahead of a broader U.S. rollout expected in June. According to Block, early engagement metrics showed Cash App users were five times more likely to return to Moneybot after taking a recommended action, while sellers who interacted with Managerbot sessions driven by insights returned at rates 33% higher than those of normal users.

“You can imagine setting up agentic commerce and agents to purchase things on your behalf from your vendors because it's either on a regular basis or it's triggered by certain inventory or certain demand or certain trends,” Dorsey said.

Beyond AI, monthly transacting actives on Cash App rose 4% year over year to 59 million users, while Primary Banking Actives increased 18% to 9.7 million. Inflows per transacting active climbed 10% to $1,494.

Bitcoin Weighs On Block’s Balance Sheet

Despite the strong operational quarter, cryptocurrency-related accounting losses weighed on Block’s bottom line. The company recorded a $173 million Bitcoin remeasurement loss during the quarter.

Block also continued expanding its Bitcoin-related services despite softer crypto trading activity. The company reduced Bitcoin transaction fees and expanded Square Bitcoin payments into retail and service businesses.

The company framed the fee cuts as part of a broader strategy to make Block more competitive in digital asset payments. Business Lead Owen Jennings said on the earnings call that the company aims to become “the simplest, cheapest and most accessible platform out there” for Bitcoin users. 

Bitcoin’s price fell 1.45% in the last 24 hours to around $79,600, dipping below its key support level of $80,000. Retail sentiment around the apex cryptocurrency on Stocktwits continued to trend in ‘bullish’ territory over the past day, accompanied by ‘high’ levels of chatter.

Read also: Tom Lee Says BMNR May Pull Back On Ethereum Buys – ‘There’s Other Things To Be Doing In Crypto Right Now’

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