Payment processing company Block is one of Bernstein’s favorite stocks in 2025. The new price target implies a 35% upside for the stock from Friday’s closing price. Block is the parent company of point-of-sale system Square. It also owns digital wallet company Cash App and buy now, pay later company Afterpay. The latter two segments have come under regulatory scrutiny recently but will benefit from a looser regulatory environment next year, Rawat said. Rawat said Square’s total payments could jump from 2% to 3% by 2025. She also predicts that with the improvement of efficiency, the company’s EBITDA growth rate will reach 30%. “Looking ahead to 2025, we believe gross profit growth of around 10% is possible, driven by increased penetration of direct deposits (the number one driver of long-term growth), lending and business initiatives such as Cash App and Afterpay on Cash. and other incentives will rise 21.2% in 2025, slightly lagging the market’s gains.