Block Shares Gain More Than 7% as Q3 Gross Profit Rises 22%

Block shares gained more than 7% in after-hours trading after the payments company posted third-quarter gross profit of $3.24 billion, up 22% from a year earlier, and raised its 2026 forecast.

Block now expects about $12.6 billion in gross profit for 2026, up from roughly $12.5 billion. It forecast $3.32 billion in fourth-quarter gross profit and $14.52 billion for 2027, a projected 15% increase from the prior year.

Block recorded about $230 million in losses on its Bitcoin (BTC) investment during the quarter. Its Bitcoin business primarily gives customers a way to trade the asset, leaving results exposed to changes in BTC prices.

Operating expenses reached $2.8 billion, rising from both the year-earlier and prior quarters despite earlier job cuts. Square is expanding into restaurant merchants, while Cash App is adding more bank-account features. Block has also started selling some AI tools developed in-house and expects those products to generate direct revenue for the first time in the fourth quarter.