We recently compiled a list of the 10 Best Fintech Stocks To Buy in 2024. In this article, we are going to take a look at where Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) stands against the other fintech stocks.
A Breakdown of the Global Fintech Industry
Based on a collaboration between the World Economic Forum and the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, a report revealed that the global fintech industry has been strong post-pandemic with the average global customer growth rates above 50% from 2021 to 2022. In this growing market, fintechs are bringing tailored financial services and products to underserved segments of the population. These segments make up a sizeable portion of the consumer base of fintech firms operating in both advanced economies and in emerging markets and developing economies.
For the second year in a row as reported by CNBC, payments serve as the largest individual industry segment with a 24% share, although it is really fragmented with many firms moving money across the globe. Alternate finance which encompasses crowd-funding apps and online lenders follows with a 16% share. Other segments and their relative shares include 14% of neo-banking, 12% of wealth technology, 10% of business process solutions, 10% of banking solutions, 8% of financial planning, and 6% of digital assets. Country-wise, the US serves as the single biggest fintech market which hosts 46% of the top 250 fintech companies. Meanwhile, the UK hosts 12% while India is home to 4% of these companies. India has replaced both Germany and France due to its rapidly increasing digital adoption.
Current Landscape for Fintechs
In the prevailing industry landscape, fintech companies that are on the lower end appear to be better off. Previously, Bank of America’s CEO mentioned the consumer to be very stable and not getting worse. On the contrary, JP Morgan Chase COO Daniel Pinto warned that net interest income is going to be challenging next year with the expected Fed rate cuts just on the horizon. Ally Financial CFO talked about worse conditions as its borrowers are facing job market weakness as an increasing concern other than inflation.
In an interview with CNBC, Dan Dolev, senior analyst in fintech equity research at Mizuho, emphasized the rising consumer credit concerns. In his opinion, the fintech players with more exposure to the lower income consumers are doing better. He mentioned that low-end consumers had a lot of steamy money that they spent beyond their means. These consumers have pulled back on their spending to pay back their loans after depleting their savings 6 or 12 months ago. Meanwhile, the prime consumers are now facing the same pressure subprime consumers faced several months ago.
Our Methodology:
In order to compile a list of the 10 best fintech stocks to buy in 2024, we first used stock screeners and relevant ETFs to make an extended list of the relevant companies with the highest market caps. Moving on, we shortlisted the top 10 stocks from our list which had the highest number of hedge fund holders. The 10 best fintech stocks to buy in 2024 have been arranged in ascending order of their hedge fund holders, as of Q2 2024.
At Insider Monkey we are obsessed with the stocks that hedge funds pile into. The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 275% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 150 percentage points (see more details here).
People using the Cash App paying for goods and services, highlighting the impact the of the company’s payment tools.
Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ)
Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 59
Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) is a technology company focused on financial services. It is made up of Square, Cash App, Spiral, TIDAL, and TBD, all of which help people navigate the barriers to accessing the economy. Square offers an integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services for sellers to grow their business while Cash App allows sending, spending, or investing money in stocks or crypto. Spiral advances the use of Bitcoin by building and funding free, open-source projects whereas TIDAL is a platform for musicians and their fans. TBD eases access to Bitcoin and other blockchain technologies.
The growth of Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) remains at scale with the expansion of the firm’s addressable market over time. While Square represents an approximately $130 billion gross profit opportunity, Cash App represents a nearly $75 billion gross profit opportunity in the United States. Thus, the key businesses are strong. Backed up by the strength of software and banking products, Square cohorts in aggregate had positive gross profit retention in 2023 as compared to 2022 thereby representing recurring revenue streams. Furthermore, the gross profit from international markets is rising in the overall Square gross profit. With Cash App, the company has shown growth across diverse product areas including Bitcoin, financial services, instant deposit, and the BNPL platform.
The firm delivered a strong second quarter with its gross profit going up 20% year-over-year. Square gross profit increased 15% year-over-year while Cash App’s gross profit climbed 23% year-over-year thereby depicting the strength of these key businesses. Adjusted operating income was up 16 folds year-over-year. Recently, Block decided to reorganize its reporting structure by function for improved collaboration across the different ecosystems. For the 12 months ending in June 2024, Block had $1.43 billion in adjusted free cash flow, almost doubling from the preceding year.
The company’s potential for continued growth and profitability as mentioned above, its ability to generate substantial free cash flow, and its strategic shift to a functional organizational structure make it attractive for investors. Block, Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has 59 hedge fund holders, as of Q2 2024. Catherine D. Wood’s ARK Investment Management was the leading shareholder among these hedge funds.
Overall SQ ranks 9th on our list of the best fintech stocks to buy. While we acknowledge the potential of SQ as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that some deeply undervalued AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter timeframe. If you are looking for a deeply undervalued AI stock that is more promising than SQ but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.