Block Expands Square's Drive-Thru: Will It Accelerate Seller Growth?
Block’s XYZ merchant-facing business, Square, has introduced Square for Drive-Thru to streamline workflow for quick-service restaurants (QSRs). A solution built in collaboration with The Howard Company and Nanonation integrates order capture, kitchen operations and customer handoffs across Square’s point of sale (POS) and kitchen display systems (KDS). By reducing operational bottlenecks, the platform helps improve order accuracy and speed of service.
Customers can view their orders in real time on confirmation screens, while KDS routes orders directly to the appropriate kitchen station with automated order labeling and sequencing. This helps restaurants deliver the correct orders to the right customers more efficiently.
Built on Square for Restaurants, Square for Drive-Thru collates reporting, cash flow tools, marketing and customer engagement solutions, while operators can use their preferred third-party tools with open APIs, providing a complete, flexible business system.
Square is expanding its restaurant and drive-thru capabilities with new tools aimed at improving efficiency, reporting and customer service for multi-location operators. The company opened its Reporting API to external developers, enabling easier access to analytics and business intelligence data. Additional features include customizable combo meals, advanced report-building tools, enhanced fulfillment coordination across dine-in and delivery channels, and flexible payment method tracking to simplify reconciliation.
Square said that these innovations help QSRs manage operational complexity, improve speed and accuracy at the drive-thru, and support scalable growth while enhancing the overall guest experience.
How Are Block’s Competitors Faring?
PayPal Holdings, Inc. (PYPL) supports restaurant and quick-service workflows, including payments at counters, kiosks, mobile ordering, and even drive-thru transactions through PayPal Restaurant POS and PayPal Fast Food POS. The platform enables restaurants to unify payment processing, order management and customer engagement across channels, helping improve transaction speed and operational efficiency.
Toast (TOST) offers a comprehensive technology ecosystem designed specifically for restaurants and quick-service operators. Its integrated platform combines POS software, KDS, digital menu boards, mobile ordering tools and AI-powered voice-ordering capabilities to streamline restaurant workflows. Toast’s drive-thru solutions help QSRs improve order accuracy, reduce service times and manage peak-hour demand more efficiently.
XYZ’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of Block have rallied 46.9% over the past three months, outperforming the broader industry and the S&P 500 Index.
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In terms of forward 12-month P/E, XYZ stock is trading at 17.71X, which is at a discount to the Zacks Internet Software industry’s 26.73X.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Block’s estimate revisions reflect a positive trend. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for full-year 2026 EPS has been revised northward 1.4% over the past month. It indicates a significant increase year over year.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Block currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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