Shares in payment newbie Square inched up in after-hours trading as the company reported improved revenues but higher losses than expected in its debut set of Q4 results.
Revenue growth at $374 million was driven by the firm's core payments business, and also by sales of its software and data products. Overall, however, Square posted a loss of 20 cents per share, overshooting analyst estimates of 13 cents per share.
The company maintains a bullish outlook. "From payment processing to point of sale, hardware to software, business financing to payroll (and more), we have built a cohesive commerce ecosystem that helps sellers start, run, and grow their businesses," it states. "This makes us unique and stands in marked contrast to the rest of the industry, which forces sellers to laboriously piece together hardware, software, and payments services from many different vendors."
Excluding expenses, such as its disastrous loss-making deal with Starbucks last year, the tech startup says adjusted ebitda will run into the black in 2016, forecasting profits of between $6 million and $12 million.
The company says it has received over 350,000 pre-orders for its new contactless and chip reader, which retails with a $49 price tag. Over half of the pre-ordered readers included a promotional processing credit, which is expeted to depress transaction proessing revenue in the first half of the year.
Shares in the company moved up by three percent in after-hours trading to stand at $12.03, above its conservative $9 price at IPO, but still trading below the $13.07 surge experienced on its debut.