Shopify beats estimates, sees revenue growth slowing in 2021

[OTTAWA] Shopify posted another blockbuster quarter, beating analyst forecasts on sales and earnings, and said it expects revenue to grow "rapidly" this year - though at a lower rate than in 2020.

Gross merchandise value - the broadest measure of product sales flowing through Shopify's platform - was US$41.1 billion in the fourth quarter, up 99 per cent from the same quarter a year earlier, helped by soaring demand for online shopping during the global pandemic. Full-year GMV was US$119.6 billion.

"Our outlook coming into 2021 assumes that as countries roll out vaccines in 2021 and populations are able to move about more freely, the overall economic environment will likely improve, some consumer spending will likely rotate back to offline retail and services," the company said in the earnings statement. That means "a more normalised pace of growth," the company said.

Canada's most valuable company posted fourth quarter adjusted earnings of US$1.58 per share that beat analyst estimates of US$1.21 per share.

Revenue was US$977.7 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to US$505.2 million a year earlier. Analysts had expected sales of US$910.4 million in the fourth quarter.

BLOOMBERG