Block beats on Q2 earnings, Virgin Galactic delays commercial service launch, Carvana misses on earnings

Yahoo Finance anchors discuss top business stories including Block and Carvana earnings as well as Virgin Galactic pushing back its commercial service launch.

Video transcript

[MUSIC PLAYING]

JULIE HYMAN: Time for "Cut for Time" now. Three stories, one minute each. And we're doing tickers today once again. Block is the first. It reported its latest earnings. Even though beating estimates there on the bottom line and the top line, there were several wrinkles in the report that left investors feeling unimpressed, perhaps.

And one of those has to do with the amount of transactions, $52 and 1/2 billion in transactions. 53 and 1/2 billion was the estimate coming from analysts. So that's one of the areas. Gross payment volume is what we're talking about there that was disappointing.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, my guy, Mark Palmer, over at-- where is it-- BTIG, good note on Block. He's still keeping a buy rating on the stock, $175 price target. But to your point, Julie, Block noting that sales slowed down in July. So some concern, perhaps, there. The economy is slowing down. Block feeling pressure, too. Of course, they also took a markdown on their Bitcoin holdings. Mark didn't like that.

JULIE HYMAN: And Cash App seeing a slowdown as well. It sounds like it was in line with estimates, but seeing something of a slowdown. So there just wasn't that much excitement, I guess, over these Block numbers.

BRIAN SOZZI: Nah, 2021 was more of the Block trade. That wasn't planned. I didn't write that down. All right, we're going to go from--

[BUZZER]

--Block to space. Virgin Galactic once again postponing its commercial space flights until the second quarter of 2023. There, you can see those nifty-looking-- are they ships? Are they planes? Whatever it is, they're going to hold it off until next year. And here's another company, Julie, a lot of promise, a lot of hype, and still burning a lot of cash while it tries to get these things, what, off the ground.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah.

BRIAN SOZZI: There's another one.

JULIE HYMAN: Yeah, I mean, so they keep delaying this. And if you are a spaceflight company and you don't do spaceflight, then what kind of company are you?

BRIAN SOZZI: You're a cash burning, money losing outfit.

JULIE HYMAN: A spaceflight development company, I suppose, is what it is. So there is progress, I guess. But it's being made slowly. I guess their eventual target is 400 flights a year.

BRIAN SOZZI: Are these things going out of Newark? I hope they don't fly out of Newark. Newark's terrible. It's so bad.

JULIE HYMAN: Something tells me if you can afford a space flight--

BRIAN SOZZI: You're not going out of Newark.

JULIE HYMAN: Probably not going out of Newark, but--

BRIAN SOZZI: Just curious.

JULIE HYMAN: --I don't know. We're seeing some price target cuts for the company. By the way, it also reported revenue. I don't know what the revenue is from. $0.36 million--

BRIAN SOZZI: Car rides to Newark.

JULIE HYMAN: --in revenue, which is down 37%. I don't-- yeah, maybe it's-- do people buy reservations on this yet? I'm--

BRIAN SOZZI: Unclear.

[BUZZER]

JULIE HYMAN: --not quite sure what that is. All right, and then finally, Carvana missing estimates for the latest quarter, but reporting a 9% year over year increase in used car sales for the second quarter and improvement in its losses. And the stock is just going bonkers today. I mean, bonkers. It's up 41%. The company has been cutting costs. It says, though, that it's not providing guidance. Well, it said before it wasn't providing guidance for the year. So I don't know--

BRIAN SOZZI: What a great way to end the show. Just seeing the stock, Carvana, up over 40%. You love short squeezes, Julie. Maybe that's what you see here.

JULIE HYMAN: Here, I'm gonna look at that while you talk about it.

BRIAN SOZZI: Yeah, so the shareholder letter, I would put this shareholder letter very much in line what we heard from Beyond Meat. Not a good quarter, not a good earnings call, but the stock ripping higher, I think, because it looks like they're drilling down in costs and might get a better cost or a profit margin outlook for next year. But still, demand was slowing for this company, and they lost money. So, yeah.

JULIE HYMAN: Short interest, 30% of float. So there you go. That-- when you see a stock rise like this, probably that there's some short covering.

BRIAN SOZZI: I'm glad I got my car off Carvana. I had a great experience. I'll get another one off there, too.

JULIE HYMAN: OK, well, then that's why the shares are going up today.

BRIAN SOZZI: Maybe.