Shopify Earnings Momentum Accelerates Ahead of Holiday Shopping Season
Shopify stock is surging Tuesday after the e-commerce company beat Q3 expectations and gave a rosy outlook for the holiday shopping season.
 
 
Shopify (SHOP) stock jumped out of the gate Tuesday after the e-commerce technology company beat top- and bottom-line expectations for its third quarter and provided a strong outlook for its fourth quarter.
In the three months ended September 30, Shopify's revenue increased 26.1% year over year to $2.2 billion, boosted by a 24% surge in gross merchandise volume (GMV) to $69.7 billion. Its net income nearly doubled from the year-ago period to $344 million.
"Q3 was outstanding, further establishing Shopify as a leader in powering commerce anywhere, anytime," said Shopify President Harley Finkelstein in a statement. "Our unified commerce platform is becoming the go-to choice for merchants of all sizes."
From just $107.88 $24.99 for Kiplinger Personal Finance
Be a smarter, better informed investor.
 
Sign up for Kiplinger’s Free Newsletters
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and more - straight to your e-mail.
Profit and prosper with the best of expert advice - straight to your e-mail.
The results topped analysts' expectations. Wall Street was anticipating revenue of $2.1 billion and net income of $332 million, according to Investor's Business Daily.
For the fourth quarter, Shopify said it expects to achieve revenue growth at a mid-to-high-twenties percentage rate from the prior year, which is well ahead of the 23% year-over-year growth rate analysts are anticipating.
"As the busiest shopping season of the year for our merchants approaches, they trust Shopify to provide the tools, unmatched speed, and reliability to maximize their success," Finkelstein said.
Is Shopify stock a buy, sell or hold?
Shopify has outperformed the broad market in 2024, up nearly 43% for the year to date vs the S&P 500's roughly 26% gain. And Wall Street remains bullish on the tech stock.
According to S&P Global Market Intelligence, the consensus recommendation among the 52 covering analysts it tracks is a Buy.
However, analysts' price targets have struggled to keep up with the large-cap stock's surge in 2024. Indeed, the average price target of $82.58 represents a steep discount to current levels. However, analysts may very well raise their price targets on SHOP following the company' strong earnings results.
Financial services firm Oppenheimer has an Outperform rating (equivalent to a Buy) on Shopify stock.
"Shopify has established itself as a fast-growing, pure play software-as-a-service (SaaS) Commerce application vendor that is taking share of retailer technology spend," said Oppenheimer analyst Ken Wong in an August 7 note. "We think Shopify is well led by a visionary and respected management team and are confident in its multi-year growth potential. Shopify is a generational technology disruptor in a large and underpenetrated Digital Commerce opportunity."
Related Content
Profit and prosper with the best of Kiplinger's advice on investing, taxes, retirement, personal finance and much more. Delivered daily. Enter your email in the box and click Sign Me Up.

Joey Solitro is a freelance financial journalist at Kiplinger with more than a decade of experience. A longtime equity analyst, Joey has covered a range of industries for media outlets including The Motley Fool, Seeking Alpha, Market Realist, and TipRanks. Joey holds a bachelor's degree in business administration.
- 
 What Netflix Stock's 10-for-1 Split Means for Investors What Netflix Stock's 10-for-1 Split Means for InvestorsNetflix announced its long-awaited stock split after Thursday's close. NFLX will start trading on a split-adjusted basis ahead of the November 17 open. 
- 
 Stocks Sink with Meta, Microsoft: Stock Market Today Stocks Sink with Meta, Microsoft: Stock Market TodayAlphabet was a bright light among the Magnificent 7 stocks today after the Google parent's quarterly revenue topped $100 billion for the first time. 
- 
 What Netflix Stock's 10-for-1 Split Means for Investors What Netflix Stock's 10-for-1 Split Means for InvestorsNetflix announced its long-awaited stock split after Thursday's close. NFLX will start trading on a split-adjusted basis ahead of the November 17 open. 
- 
 Stocks Sink with Meta, Microsoft: Stock Market Today Stocks Sink with Meta, Microsoft: Stock Market TodayAlphabet was a bright light among the Magnificent 7 stocks today after the Google parent's quarterly revenue topped $100 billion for the first time. 
- 
 Five Downsides of Dividend Investing for Retirees, From a Financial Planner Five Downsides of Dividend Investing for Retirees, From a Financial PlannerCan you rely on dividend-paying stocks for retirement income? You'd have to be extremely wealthy — and even then, the downsides could be considerable. 
- 
 Dow, S&P 500 Slip on December Rate Cut Worries, Nvidia Boosts Nasdaq: Stock Market Today Dow, S&P 500 Slip on December Rate Cut Worries, Nvidia Boosts Nasdaq: Stock Market TodayNvidia became the first company ever to boast a $5 trillion market cap, but it wasn't enough to lift the Dow and the S&P 500. 
- 
 I'm a CPA: Control These Three Levers to Keep Your Retirement on Track I'm a CPA: Control These Three Levers to Keep Your Retirement on TrackThink of investing in terms of time, savings and risk. By carefully monitoring all three, you'll keep your retirement plans heading in the right direction. 
- 
 Stocks Hit Fresh Highs Ahead of the Fed As Earnings Pump Optimism: Stock Market Today Stocks Hit Fresh Highs Ahead of the Fed As Earnings Pump Optimism: Stock Market TodaySHW and UNH were two of the best Dow Jones stocks Tuesday, thanks to solid earnings reports, and MSFT closed with a $4 trillion market cap. 
- 
 Targa Resources, Take-Two Interactive, Boston Scientific: Why Experts Rate These Stocks at Strong Buy Targa Resources, Take-Two Interactive, Boston Scientific: Why Experts Rate These Stocks at Strong BuyWall Street is highly bullish on these three high-quality stocks. 
- 
 Debunking Three Myths About Defined Outcome ETFs (aka Buffered ETFs) Debunking Three Myths About Defined Outcome ETFs (aka Buffered ETFs)Defined outcome ETFs offer a middle ground between traditional equity and fixed-income investments, helping provide downside protection and upside participation.