How to buy Square shares

Square, Inc is a software-infrastructure business with stocks listed in the US. Square shares (SQ) are listed on the NYSE and all prices are listed in US Dollars. Its last market close was US$227.11 – a decrease of 17.88% over the previous week. Here's how to invest if you're based in Australia.

How to buy shares in Square

1. Compare share trading platforms. To buy shares in a US company from Australia you'll need to find a trading platform that offers access to US stock markets. If you're just starting out, look for a platform with low brokerage and foreign exchange fees.
2. Open and fund your brokerage account. Complete an application with your personal and financial details, like your ID and tax file number. Fund your account with a bank transfer, credit card or debit card.
3. Search for Square. Find the share by name or ticker symbol: SQ. Research its history to confirm it's a solid investment against your financial goals.
4. Purchase now or later. Buy today with a market order or use a limit order to delay your purchase until Square reaches your desired price. To spread out your risk, look into dollar-cost averaging, which smooths out buying at consistent intervals and amounts.
5. Decide on how many to buy. At last close price of US$227.11, weigh your budget against a diversified portfolio that can minimise risk through the market's ups and downs. You may be able to buy a fractional share of Square, depending on your broker.
6. Check in on your investment. Congratulations, you own a part of Square. Optimise your portfolio by tracking how your stock — and even the business — performs with an eye on the long term. You may be eligible for dividends and shareholder voting rights on directors and management that can affect your stock.

Square share price

Use our graph to track the performance of SQ stocks over time.

Square shares at a glance

• Key figures

Information last updated 2021-04-16.

52-week range	US$56.86 - US$283.19
50-day moving average	US$234.2883
200-day moving average	US$215.6702
Target price	US$269.64
PE ratio	586.7625
Dividend yield	N/A (0%)
Earnings per share (TTM)	US$0.44

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The value of your investments can fall as well as rise and you may get back less than you invested. Past performance is no indication of future results.

Is it a good time to buy Square stock?

The technical analysis gauge below displays real-time ratings for the timeframes you select. This is not a recommendation, however. It represents a technical analysis based on the most popular technical indicators: Moving Averages, Oscillators and Pivots. Finder might not concur and takes no responsibility.

Technical Analysis of Square, Inc by TradingView

Square price performance over time

Historical closes compared with the last close of $227.11

1 month (2021-03-22)	0.43%
3 months (2021-01-22)	1.90%

Is Square under- or over-valued?

Valuing Square stock is incredibly difficult, and any metric has to be viewed as part of a bigger picture of Square's overall performance. However, analysts commonly use some key metrics to help gauge the value of a stock.

Square's P/E ratio

Square's current share price divided by its per-share earnings (EPS) over a 12-month period gives a "trailing price/earnings ratio" of roughly 587x. In other words, Square shares trade at around 587x recent earnings.

That's relatively high compared to, say, the trailing 12-month P/E ratio for the NASDAQ 100 at the end of 2019 (27.29). The high P/E ratio could mean that investors are optimistic about the outlook for the shares or simply that they're over-valued.

Square's PEG ratio

Square's "price/earnings-to-growth ratio" can be calculated by dividing its P/E ratio by its growth – to give 5.645. A low ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer better value, while a higher ratio can be interpreted as meaning the shares offer worse value.

The PEG ratio provides a broader view than just the P/E ratio, as it gives more insight into Square's future profitability. By accounting for growth, it could also help you if you're comparing the share prices of multiple high-growth companies.

Square's EBITDA

Square's EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation) is US$45.6 million (£0.0 million).

The EBITDA is a measure of a Square's overall financial performance and is widely used to measure a its profitability.

Square financials

Revenue TTM	US$9.5 billion
Gross profit TTM	US$2.7 billion
Return on assets TTM	-0.16%
Return on equity TTM	9.69%
Profit margin	2.24%
Book value	5.878
Market capitalisation	US$117.4 billion

TTM: trailing 12 months

Shorting Square shares

There are currently 32.9 million Square shares held short by investors – that's known as Square's "short interest". This figure is 4% up from 31.6 million last month.

There are a few different ways that this level of interest in shorting Square shares can be evaluated.

Square's "short interest ratio" (SIR)

Square's "short interest ratio" (SIR) is the quantity of Square shares currently shorted divided by the average quantity of Square shares traded daily (recently around 11.7 million). Square's SIR currently stands at 2.8. In other words for every 100,000 Square shares traded daily on the market, roughly 2800 shares are currently held short.

However Square's short interest can also be evaluated against the total number of Square shares, or, against the total number of tradable Square shares (the shares that aren't held by "insiders" or major long-term shareholders – also known as the "float"). In this case Square's short interest could be expressed as 0.07% of the outstanding shares (for every 100,000 Square shares in existence, roughly 70 shares are currently held short) or 0.0848% of the tradable shares (for every 100,000 tradable Square shares, roughly 85 shares are currently held short).

Such a low SIR usually points to an optimistic outlook for the share price, with fewer people currently willing to bet against Square.

Find out more about how you can short Square stock.

Square's environmental, social and governance track record

Environmental, social and governance (known as ESG) criteria are a set of three factors used to measure the sustainability and social impact of companies like Square.

When it comes to ESG scores, lower is better, and lower scores are generally associated with lower risk for would-be investors.

Square's total ESG risk score

Total ESG risk: 20.42

Socially conscious investors use ESG scores to screen how an investment aligns with their worldview, and Square's overall score of 20.42 (as at 12/31/2018) is pretty good – landing it in it in the 22nd percentile of companies rated in the same sector.

ESG scores are increasingly used to estimate the level of risk a company like Square is exposed to within the areas of "environmental" (carbon footprint, resource use etc.), "social" (health and safety, human rights etc.), and "governance" (anti-corruption, tax transparency etc.).

Square's environmental score

Environmental score: 1.84/100

Square's environmental score of 1.84 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Square is a leader in its sector terms of its environmental impact, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Square's social score

Social score: 11.53/100

Square's social score of 11.53 puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. This could suggest that Square is a leader in its sector when it comes to taking good care of its workforce and the communities it impacts.

Square's governance score

Governance score: 8.22/100

Square's governance score puts it squarely in the 1st percentile of companies rated in the same sector. That could suggest that Square is a leader in its sector when it comes to responsible management and strategy, and exposed to a lower level of risk.

Environmental, social, and governance (ESG) summary

Square, Inc was last rated for ESG on: 2019-01-01.

Total ESG score	20.42
Total ESG percentile	22.32
Environmental score	1.84
Environmental score percentile	1
Social score	11.53
Social score percentile	1
Governance score	8.22
Governance score percentile	1

Square share dividends

We're not expecting Square to pay a dividend over the next 12 months.

Square share price volatility

Over the last 12 months, Square's shares have ranged in value from as little as US$56.86 up to US$283.19. A popular way to gauge a stock's volatility is its "beta".

Beta is a measure of a share's volatility in relation to the market. The market (NYSE average) beta is 1, while Square's is 2.433. This would suggest that Square's shares are significantly more volatile than the average for this exchange and represent a higher risk.

Square overview

Square, Inc., together with its subsidiaries, creates tools that enables sellers to accept card payments; also provide reporting and analytics, and next-day settlement. It provides hardware products, including Magstripe reader, which enables swiped transactions of magnetic stripe cards; Contactless and chip reader that accepts Europay, MasterCard, and Visa (EMV) chip cards and Near Field Communication payments; Square Stand, which enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point of sale solution; Square Register that combines its hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology; Square Terminal, a payments device and receipt printer to replace traditional keypad terminals, which accepts tap, dip, and swipe payments. The company also offers various software products, including Square Point of Sale; Square Appointments; Square for Retail; Square for Restaurants; Square Online and Square Online Checkout; Square Invoices; Square Virtual Terminal; Square Team Management; Square Contracts; Square Loyalty, Marketing, and Gift Cards; and Square Dashboard. In addition, it offers developer platform, which includes application programming interfaces and software development kits. Further, the company provides Cash App, which enables to send, spend, and store money; and Weebly that offers customers website hosting and domain name registration solutions. Square, Inc. was founded in 2009 and is headquartered in San Francisco, California.

Frequently asked questions

• What percentage of Square is owned by insiders or institutions?

  Currently 0.93% of Square shares are held by insiders and 74.786% by institutions.

• When does the fiscal year end for Square?

  Square's fiscal year ends in December.

• Where is Square based?

  Square's address is: 1455 Market Street, San Francisco, CA, United States, 94103

• What is Square's ISIN number?

  Square's international securities identification number is: US8522341036

• What is Square's CUSIP number?

  Square's Committee on Uniform Securities Identification Procedures number is: 852234103