XYZ Stock In Focus With Wall Street Cutting Price Targets Ahead Of Q3 Earnings

• Morgan Stanley downgraded XYZ stock to ‘Equal Weight.’
• The firm cut its price target to $80 from $90, warning of a near-term slowdown in Cash App Borrow loans as Block shifts to longer-duration lending.
• The firm said those longer loans could drive credit losses and that rising competition may limit Square's upside.

Block Inc. (XYZ) shares edged lower in premarket trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock, warning that growth in Cash App’s lending business could slow.

According to TheFly, Morgan Stanley analyst James Faucette cut Block to ‘Equal Weight’ from ‘Overweight’ and lowered his price target to $80 from $90. He said the company’s “bullish expectations” created modestly higher risk to its near-term growth and profit outlook. The new target implies about 4.6% upside from Friday’s close.

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Faucette expected a near-term slowdown in loans issued through Cash App Borrow, the app’s short-term lending product. Block was moving toward longer-duration loans, and the company also faced tougher comparisons with last year’s results in the second half of this year. 

He said those longer loans could weigh on near-term origination growth and increase credit losses, and he also expected steep competition in Square’s target market to limit gains for that business.

XYZ stock dropped over 1% in pre-market. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around XYZ moved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral,’ while chatter around it stayed at ‘normal’ levels over the past day.

Clear Street Cuts Block Price Target On Weakening E-Commerce Trends

Clear Street also lowered its price target on Block to $82 from $87, and kept a ‘Hold’ rating on the shares ahead of the company’s third-quarter report, and the firm pointed to weaker activity in cross-border online shopping, according to TheFly. That target implies about 7.2% upside from Friday’s close.

Its analysis of European Union users on major Chinese e-commerce websites showed a worsening trend from the third quarter into October. Clear Street said that could put the forecast for low-single-digit growth in branded checkout volume in the second half of 2026 at risk.

Block Earnings Preview: Revenue Expected To Dip Slightly

Block is scheduled to report results on November 3. Analysts expect third-quarter revenue of $6.58 billion, slightly below the $6.62 billion it reported last quarter, according to Koyfin data. Earnings per share (EPS) are expected at $1.03, roughly flat with the previous quarter’s $1.02.

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