The Block Inc (ASX: SQ2) share price is off to a poor start this week.
Block shares closed on Friday trading for $144.89 and are currently at $107.50, down 6.4% in morning trade.
The Block share price is now down 14.6% since the ASX buy now, pay later (BNPL) share released its quarterly report on 5 August. Investors appear underwhelmed with the company's expectations of slowing growth in Q3.
Image source: Getty Images
Why is the Block share price sinking again today?
Block, which acquired Afterpay in January this year, began trading on the ASX on 20 January.
The global payments company is also listed on the New York Stock Exchange. And the Block share price on the ASX tends to follow, if not mirror, the moves of its US-listed stock. In Friday's trade, Block shares closed 6.7% lower on the NYSE.
It's not just Block selling off today.
While the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is down a more modest 1.27% at the time of writing, fellow ASX BNPL share Zip Co Ltd (ASX: ZIP) is down 4.33%. Meanwhile, the Sezzle Inc (ASX: SZL) share price is down 5.03%.
Part of that sell-off can be pinned on renewed selling in the tech sector, with the NASDAQ closing down 2% on Friday and the S&P/ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) down 1.7% today.
But the Block share price and other BNPL stocks look to be coming under added pressure from the prospect of more interest rate hikes ahead.
As rates continue to rise, following a period of more than 10 years where they only went lower, analysts are expecting BNPL companies to struggle with increasing levels of bad debts.
2022 has been a tough one for investors in the BNPL sector. Since listing on 20 January, Block shares have dropped 39%.
Since 4 January, Zip shares are down 77%, while the Sezzle share price has tanked 75%.
