In the aftermath of disappointing earnings reports from PayPal (PYPL) and Affirm (AFRM) earlier this month, expectations surrounding Block's (SQ) Q4 report soured considerably.
Concerns primarily centered on two items: a potential slowdown in consumer spending, which could stunt the growth of its highly successful CashApp, and a cooling-off for buy now, pay later (BNPL) services, diminishing enthusiasm for SQ's blockbuster acquisition of Afterpay.
SQ's upside results and bullish update on Afterpay's performance indicate that those worries were mostly overblown and that the struggles of PYPL and AFRM may be related more to competitive issues.