Investing

Block Down 3.2% Premarket as CEO Alyssa Henry Steps Down

Tim Fries

Published: September 19, 2023 7:55 am

Last Updated: September 19, 2023 11:37 am

Block saw its stock price tumble 3.2% in the Tuesday premarket after the company’s CEO Alyssa Henry said she would step down from the company. According to CNN, Dorsey will take on the top role for now.

Alyssa Henry to Leave Block After Almost 10 Years

Shares of Block Inc. are trading lower in premarket trading Tuesday after Square’s CEO Alyssa Henry announced her departure. The stock was down 3.2% at $49.8 at the pre-open market.

Henry will step down as Square’s CEO on October 2, a Monday regulatory filing showed, after working at the company for more than nine years. Square is the financial services arm of Block, a tech company co-founded by Jack Dorsey in 2009.

The reasons behind Henry’s exit are unclear for now.

“As CEO of Square, Alyssa Henry helped transform the business into a software-led technology company, guided the team during the uncertainty of global pandemic lockdowns, and expanded our breadth of services for small businesses around the world.”

– a Block’s spokeperson told CNN.

The 53-year-old took on multiple roles at Square over the years before advancing to the top position in 2015. Meanwhile, the premarket dip widens Block’s 2023 stock market losses, which currently stand at more than 20%.

Its shares came under pressure several times this year, partly due to Hindenburg Research’s short report against the company. Block is also known as one of the biggest corporate investors in Bitcoin (BTC), alongside MicroStrategy, Galaxy Digital, and Tesla.

Dorsey to Replace Henry as the New ‘Square Head’

In the wake of Henry’s withdrawal, Block co-founder, Head, and Chairperson Jack Dorsey will take on the ‘Square Head’ role for now, the filing noted.

Earlier this year, Dorsey said Block wants to “raise the bar” on its growth rates and efficiency after massively scaling the ecosystems of its key platforms Square and Cash App. However, after seeing remarkable growth in 2021, Square’s gross profit experienced a slowdown in the more recent period due to weaker consumer spending and macro challenges.

But the most recent quarterly report showed a noteworthy rebound across the Square ecosystem, which generated $1.67 billion in Q1 2023, up 15% from last year. The payments platform accounted for over 90% of Block’s gross payment volume (GPV) in the quarter at more than $46 billion.

This article originally appeared on The Tokenist