Square reported a total net revenue of $374 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, which is an increase of 49 percent year over year and better than expectations set by analyst for the mobile payments company.
Wall Street only expected revenue of $345 million for Square in the previous quarter, a figure that was exceeded by the company as it posted strong growth in its first quarter as a public company.
Square priced its 27 million shares at $9 per share for its IPO, which was below the price range of $11 to $13 that it had previously indicated. The company's valuation was set at $2.9 billion for the IPO, which was launched late last year.
The higher revenue showed that Square has found success in expanding its business beyond its mobile credit card readers. Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who is also the CEO of Twitter, has pushed to have small businesses sign up for the add-on services that Square offers, including software on inventory management, cash advance systems and sales data analysis.
This move has led to strong growth in Square's software and data products division, which saw a 52 percent increase in revenue to $22 million for the fourth quarter of 2015 compared to $15 million in the previous quarter.
Mobile payment solutions, however, remains as the core business of Square, with the company stating that it had received more than 350,000 preorders for its new contactless and chip reader at the end of the fourth quarter of 2015. The reader will allow Square sellers to be able to accept almost any kind of payment possible from customers.
Square noted that the device is being sold online and in Apple Stores in the United States for $49, with plans to expand the sale of the reader to Amazon, Staples, Target and Best Buy in the spring.
"Momentum looks very strong and a lot of their initiatives are working," said ITG analyst Steven Weinstein. "The more Square products a business uses, the more likely they are to remain a Square customer."
All this said, Square's net loss for the fourth quarter of 2015 more than doubled to $80.5 million, compared to the net loss of $37.1 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. However, this is largely due to a one-time charge of a $32.2 million dividend on preferred stock.
