Block stock gains as KeyBanc raised price target to $180
Block (NYSE:SQ
+7.9%) is trading higher after KeyBanc Capital Markets maintained its overweight rating and raised its price target from $175 to $180 a share, implying ~25% increase from the current price.
The company's acquisition of Buy Now, Pay Later platform Afterpay (OTCPK:AFTPY) is potentially transformative featuring an unusually large number of synergy categories, a byproduct stemming from an industry-first deal that spans two distinct consumer-merchant ecosystems, says KeyBanc analyst Josh Beck.

His analysis indicates a range of scenarios from $0.8B to $5B gross profit synergy run-rate, which at the low end would produce a 20% ROIC and 100%+ at the high end.
He says that the company is well positioned to benefit from a shifting FinTech industry landscape that favors two-sided ecosystem synergies, BNPL-driven commerce, SuperApps, and crypto optionality, thus Beck continues to recommend Block as a key idea.
On March 30, 2022, Black (SQ) and peer Paypal (PYPL) landed Buy ratings by Goldman Sachs analyst Michael Ng with price target set to $173 for Block.
Analyst Michael Ng said, "The company is "well positioned to benefit from Cash Appâs growing monetization from new product features (e.g., tax preparation, card spending, cash management, stock investing, Bitcoin) while enjoying ongoing user growth from the network effects of P2P payments."
CLSA also initiated coverage of Block Inc. Class A with a recommendation of buy with price target of $180.
Seeking Alpha's Quant Rating is Hold whereas Wall Street Analysts rating is Buy on the stock.
Read the most recent analysis on the stock here.