StoneX turns bullish on Block, sees upside from AI-driven restructuring

StoneX upgraded rating on payments firm Block XYZ.N to buy from hold and set a price target of $105, implying a 32% upside to the stock's last close.

"The upgrade reflects our view that the market has yet to price in the improvement in the co's operating results likely to result from its embrace of agentic AI" - StoneX.

The output resulting from that agentic AI platform has been impressive: Block's code changes per engineer are up 150% since the start of 2026, agentic AI wrote and reviewed nearly all of its production code changes in June, the brokerage said.

Block said in February it will cut over 4,000 jobs as part of an overhaul to embed artificial intelligence across its operations.

41 of 50 analysts rate the stock "strong buy" or "buy" and nine rate it "hold"; their median price target is $97, according to data compiled by LSEG.

Including session's move, the stock is up 21.8% year to date.