Square posts upbeat profits while also announcing $29 billion deal for Afterpay

The payment-processing company posted second-quarter net income of $204.0 million, or 40 cents a share, whereas it reported a loss of $11.5 million, or 3 cents a share, in the year-prior quarter. On an adjusted basis, Square earned 66 cents a share, up from 18 cents a year earlier and above the FactSet consensus, which called for 31 cents.

Square SQ, -3.14% recorded revenue of $4.68 billion in the second quarter, up from $1.92 billion a year prior, while analysts were expecting $5.03 billion. The company saw total gross profit nearly double to $1.14 billion from $596.8 million. Roughly half of the quarter’s total came from the Cash App, which brought in $546 million in gross profit.

The company saw $2.72 billion in bitcoin BTCUSD, -4.02% revenue, but $2.67 billion in bitcoin costs during the quarter.

Square disclosed that in the month of June, it had 40 million monthly transacting active customers for the Cash App. A presentation slide deck focused on the Afterpay deal referenced “70 million annual active Cash App customers.”

The company pointed to traction in its efforts to get Cash App customers to do more with the product beyond sending money to friends. Almost 4.5 million customers held a stock or exchange-traded fund through the company’s brokerage offering during the second quarter, marking an increase of more than three times relative to a year earlier.

Square’s seller business brought in $1.31 billion of revenue and $585 million of gross profit in the quarter. Square highlighted improvements in in-person spending amid a relaxing of restrictions around the pandemic, though online channels still contributed “strong growth,” per the investor letter.

Square noted that it expects “strong gross profit growth” for the month of July relative to a year ago, and it also expects seller gross payment volume to be up more than 45% on a year-over-year basis. For the third quarter, Square anticipates adjusted product development, sales and marketing, and general and administrative expenses to be up by about $150 million compared with what was seen in the second quarter of 2021.

The company has scheduled an investor call for 8 a.m. ET on Monday, with the call likely to feature additional information about its plans for Afterpay AFTPY, -6.06% APT, +23.53%.