Block Misses Q1 Estimates, Posts $1.73B in Bitcoin Transactions

Fintech and digital payments giant Block (SQ), formerly Square, reported late Thursday first-quarter results that missed analysts' expectations.

Total revenue for the quarter was $3.96 billion, compared with the $4.1 billion that analysts were expecting on average according to FactSet. Excluding bitcoin, total net revenue was $2.23 billion, up 44% from the same period a year ago. Adjusted earnings per share were 18 cents, compared with analysts' average estimate of 20 cents.

Cash App, a peer-to-peer payments service that allows users to directly buy and sell bitcoin, generated $1.73 billion in bitcoin transactions and $43 million of gross profit in the first quarter. In the fourth quarter of last year, Block generated $1.96 billion in bitcoin transactions and $46 million of gross profit.

The company didn't recognize any impairment losses in the quarter on bitcoin and said that as of March 31, the fair value of its investment in bitcoin was $366 million, versus the carrying value of the investment of $149 million.

Block said in its statement that as of the end of the quarter, more than 10 million Cash App accounts had bought bitcoin since the product was introduced.

Shares of Block rose about 4% to $99.50 in after-hours trading on Thursday. Shares fell more than 10% on Thursday ahead of its earnings release, as the Nasdaq dropped 5%.

The company will be holding an earnings call with analysts at 5 p.m. ET.

Read More: Block Notifies 8.2M Customers After Breach of Cash App Investing