Block reported revenue growth of 0.3% in FY 2025 — the kind of number that makes growth investors look away. But the 10-K reveals financial solutions operating at 91.9% gross margins grew 28%, driving Cash App's margin from 32.2% to 41.1% in a single year. The catch: loan losses doubled to 19.7% of financial solutions revenue, and Block deployed $3.5B into lending — more than its entire free cash flow. With $8.3B in capital demands against $2.43B in FCF, and a 40% workforce reduction contingent on AI tools management admits may 'fail entirely,' Block's transformation is the highest-stakes bet in fintech.
MercadoLibre generated $10.8 billion in free cash flow in FY 2025 — or $1.5 billion, depending on which line of its own 10-K you read. That $9.3 billion gap reveals a fintech business consuming 86% of cash flow for customer deposits and loan originations. Meanwhile, $1.1 billion in credit card receivable gains — classified as 'non-recurring' both years — represent 56% of net income, pushing the effective P/E from 51x to 117x. And Argentina, generating 3.6 times Brazil's adjusted operating margin in a hyperinflationary economy, supplies the profitability that makes the story work.
Robinhood reported $4.47 billion in revenue — up 52% — with $1.88 billion in net income and a 42% margin. Then you read footnote 13: 55% of that revenue flows through market maker counterparties.
SoFi reported $481 million in net income for FY2025 — but 73% came from unrealized fair value gains on loans valued using management's models. The same 10-K reveals a $576 million fee business growing 234% that generates cash without touching the balance sheet. SoFi is transforming from a lender that risks its own capital to a platform that earns fees on other people's. The 3.62x book value — 2.5x LendingClub's — is a bet on which story wins.
Three major fintechs, three very different approaches to earnings quality. PayPal (8/10) represents conservative accounting, Block (6/10) shows aggressive tendencies with regulatory exposure, and Coinbase (4/10) raises red flags with 0.10x cash conversion. Our 5-pass filing intelligence reveals what standard screeners miss.