Fintechs Upstart and Toast soar on earnings

Fintechs Upstart and Toast soar on earnings

Chris Comparato, CEO, the Toast, Inc. IPO at the New York Stock Exchange, on September 22, 2021. Source: NYSE Upstart, which uses artificial intelligence to inform online lending decisions, soared 46% on Friday, its best day in over three years. Toast, which sells payments technology to restaurants, jumped 14%, closing at its highest since 2021. … Read more

Jack Dorsey dramatically shutters Block’s TBD crypto unit

Jack Dorsey dramatically shutters Block’s TBD crypto unit

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Twitter Inc., speaks during the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, Florida, U.S., on Friday, June 4, 2021. Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | Getty Images During the crypto-crazed summer of 2021, when memecoins such as dogecoin and Shiba Inu were rocketing alongside bitcoin and ethereum, Square founder Jack Dorsey announced that … Read more

Block (SQ) earnings Q3 2024

Block (SQ) earnings Q3 2024

Block reported third-quarter revenue on Thursday that trailed Wall Street expectations. The stock initially sold off after hours but erased most of its losses as investors focused more on profitability metrics. Here is how the company did, compared to analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG. Earnings per share: 88 cents adjusted vs. 87 cents expected Revenue: … Read more

Affirm expands buy now, pay later service to the UK

Affirm expands buy now, pay later service to the UK

PayPal Inc. co-founder and Affirm’s CEO Max Levchin on center stage during day one of Collision 2019 at Enercare Center in Toronto, Canada. Vaughn Ridley | Sportsfile | Getty Images LONDON — Buy now, pay later firm Affirm launched Monday its installment loans in the U.K., in the company’s first expansion overseas. Founded in 2012, Affirm … Read more

European tech brain drain ‘number one risk’ ahead of IPO

European tech brain drain ‘number one risk’ ahead of IPO

Sebastian Siemiatkowski, CEO of Klarna, speaking at a fintech event in London on Monday, April 4, 2022. Chris Ratcliffe | Bloomberg via Getty Images A European technology talent brain drain is the biggest risk factor facing Klarna as the Swedish payments company gets closer to its upcoming initial public offering, according to CEO Sebastian Siemiatkowski. … Read more

OpenAI’s CFO says funding round should close by next week in letter

OpenAI’s CFO says funding round should close by next week in letter

OpenAI’s Sora AI tool allows users to create AI-generated videos from text-based inputs. Costfoto | Nurphoto | Getty Images OpenAI CFO Sarah Friar is looking to reassure its investors that the richly valued artificial intelligence startup is still in a strong position and is poised to close a big funding round soon, despite losing top … Read more

Klarna partners with Adyen to bring buy now, pay later in-store

Klarna partners with Adyen to bring buy now, pay later in-store

“Buy-now, pay-later” firm Klarna aims to return to profit by summer 2023. Jakub Porzycki | NurPhoto | Getty Images Swedish firm Klarna is partnering up with Dutch payments fintech Adyen to bring its popular buy now, pay later service into physical retail stores. The company said Thursday that it had entered into an agreement with … Read more

Zilch posts first profit and appoints ex-Aviva CEO to board

Zilch posts first profit and appoints ex-Aviva CEO to board

Zilch CEO Phil Belamant. Zilch British financial technology firm Zilch on Tuesday reported its first-ever month of profit, marking a key milestone for the company as it looks toward an eventual initial public offering. In a trading update, Zilch, which competes with the likes of Klarna and Block in the buy now, pay later space, … Read more

Block (SQ) earnings Q1 2024

Block (SQ) earnings Q3 2024

Block reported first-quarter earnings after the bell Thursday that exceeded analysts’ estimates. The stock rose more than 7% in extended trading. Here’s how the company did, compared with analysts’ consensus estimates from LSEG. Earnings per share: 85 cents adjusted vs. 72 cents expected Revenue: $5.96 billion vs. $5.82 billion expected Block, formerly known as Square, … Read more

Bitcoin miner Gridless, backed by Block, builds site at Kenya volcano

Bitcoin miner Gridless, backed by Block, builds site at Kenya volcano

HELL’S GATE, Kenya — Two-and-a-half hours northwest of Nairobi by car, a small group of bitcoin miners set up shop at the site of an extinct volcano near Hell’s Gate National Park. The mine, tucked away on the edge of Lake Naivasha, is operated by a startup called Gridless and consists of a single 500-kilowatt … Read more