Nearly half layoffs due to AI efficiency improvements Block(XYZ.US) surged nearly 15% at market open

2026-02-27 15:07:15

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On Friday, Block (XYZ.US) opened nearly 15% higher at $62.55. In the news, Block announced on Thursday that it will lay off over 4,000 employees, about half of its total workforce. Co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey told shareholders, “Today, we announced a difficult decision to the team. The company’s size will be reduced by nearly half, from over 10,000 employees to less than 6,000, meaning more than 4,000 employees will leave or enter negotiations.”

This layoff announcement was released alongside Block’s Q4 earnings report. The financials showed that the payments company posted an adjusted EPS of $0.65 for the quarter, with revenue of $6.25 billion, roughly in line with analyst expectations of $0.65 per share and $6.24 billion in revenue. The company’s gross profit increased 24% year-over-year to $2.87 billion.

Block CFO Amrita Ahuja said the layoffs will lay a solid foundation for the company’s “long-term growth in the next phase.” Ahuja stated, “We chose to adjust our operations as the business accelerates. We realize that by building a leaner, high-quality team and leveraging AI to automate more tasks, we can move forward faster.”

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