** Shares of payments firm Block XYZ.N rise 1.6% to $59.56 premarket

** KBW upgrades XYZ to "outperform" from "market perform", says stock's recent selloff has made it more attractive

** Stock fell nearly 18% on Feb 21 after reporting Q4 results

** Brokerage says XYZ can achieve its 2H25 gross profit growth $(GP)$ guidance despite market skepticism, potentially leading to a valuation rebound

** Adds that XYZ's GP growth needs to accelerate from 11% in 1Q25 to about 19% in 4Q25 to meet its FY25 guidance of 15% GP growth, which is achievable due to new products, partnerships, increased sales and marketing spend

** Expects Cash App, a mobile application for financial activities, to be XYZ's main growth driver in 2025, contributing about 70% to the overall growth acceleration

** Brokerage, however, cuts PT to $80 from $87 due to a slight reduction in XYZ's projected earnings per share for 2025 and 2026

** New PT has 36.4% upside to stock's last closing price of $58.65

** Thirty-six of 45 brokerages rate the stock "buy" or higher, seven "hold" and two rate "sell"; their median PT is $194.50, according to data compiled by LSEG

** XYZ stock down 31% YTD

(Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru)

((sanchayaita.roy@thomsonreuters.com))