Block ASX-listed shares soar after announcing 4,000 AI-related job cuts
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More news: Shares in payments group Block has seen its ASX-listed shares soar in morning trade after reporting plans to cut around 4,000 jobs as it ramps up the use of AI tools.
At 10:45am AEDT, Block’s ASX-listed shares had lifted 28.2% to $94.40. In extended trade on the New York Stock Exchange, Block shares had lifted nearly 23% to USD67.05.
Block to cut workforce by more than 4,000, citing AI
The news: Digital payments giant Block has announced it will cut its workforce from over 10,000 people to just under 6,000 due to improvements in artificial intelligence tools.
The numbers: The job cuts were announced alongside Block’s fourth quarter earnings report. Gross profit growth more than doubled from the first quarter to the fourth quarter to USD2.87 billion and up 24% year on year.
Full year-gross profit lifted 17% year on year to USD10.36 billion. Block also outlined a 55% slide in net income for 2025 from USD2.9 billion in 2024 to USD1.3 billion in 2025.
The net income difference is in part due to a USD1.9 billion income tax benefit in 2024.
Primary banking actives (PBA) also grew to 9.3 million in December, up from 8.3 million in September, and putting year-on-year growth at 22%. Block said PBA customers “generate nearly 10x the gross profit per active compared to peer-to-peer only actives”.
Block is guiding full-year gross profit of USD12.2 billion, which would represent 18% year-on-year growth.
The context: In a letter to shareholders, Block CEO Jack Dorsey said that artificial intelligence tools “have changed what it means to build and run a company”. As such, “over 4,000 people are being asked to leave or entering into consultation”.
“A significantly smaller team, using the tools we’re building, can do more and do it better. And intelligence tool capabilities are compounding faster every week,” Dorsey said.
The company’s integration of AI tools extends to its products and the business is moving to a model in which “customers can build their own features directly on top of our capabilities”.
Gross profit in the December quarter surged as Block launched new products and updates including AI Voice Ordering, simplified vendor cost comparison and enabling sellers to accept bitcoin sales. It also launched banking rewards scheme Cash App Green.
The source: ASX
