Shopify Inc. (SHOP)
Shopify powers independent online stores, making its money by taking a slice of merchant sales and subscription fees.
Is Shopify Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?
The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: Rapid revenue growth of over 34 percent year-on-year. Worth weighing: High price-to-earnings ratio means little room for operational mistakes.
Is this normal for this company?
Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.
Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.
Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.
How these ranges are built
Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.
What does Shopify Inc. do?
Whenever an independent boutique or brand sells something online, chances are they are using Shopify behind the scenes to handle payments, checkouts, and inventory. Merchants pay a monthly fee to run their digital storefronts, plus extra whenever customers use Shopify's payment tools. The key detail to keep an eye on is how well the company keeps growing its merchant base while managing its operating costs.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and momentum, and weakest on value.
- !Pays no dividend - the whole return rides on the share price
- ✓Growing - revenue up about 34% over the year
- !High P/E of 104 - big growth is already priced in
- ✓Low debt - a sturdier balance sheet
- ✓Strong return on shareholder money (ROE 16%)
- Growth screens high
- Momentum screens high
- Value screens low
- Income screens low
Does Shopify Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Shopify Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.
Does Shopify Inc. have more cash or more debt?
It holds about $4.95B in cash against about $178.00M of debt - so it has net cash of about $4.77B. More cash than debt is a cushion: it does not need to borrow just to cover what it owes.
From the latest reported balance sheet. Cash and debt levels change, and some borrowing is normal - this is context, not a judgment.
What do Shopify Inc.'s numbers mean?
How has it performed?
Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.
How much has Shopify Inc. actually fallen?
Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Shopify Inc. fell as much as −47% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.
Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.
How has it done year by year?
Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.
A closer look at the numbers
Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?
Who owns Shopify Inc.?
About 73% of Shopify Inc., or about 73 in every 100 shares, is held by big institutions such as pension and index funds. The rest, roughly 27%, is held by the public and smaller investors.
What this does and doesn't tell you
This is a recent snapshot of the share register, and it moves. We don't read anything into who owns what - a high institutional share is common for any large listed company and is not a signal about it.
Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.
Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.
How much money does Shopify Inc. make?
Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.
Where does each £100 of Shopify Inc.'s sales go?
A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £52 covers making the product or service, £33 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £15 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.
When does Shopify Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?
Shopify Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-03 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.
‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.
| Reported | Expected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number. | Actual EPS | vs expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-05 | $0.33 | $0.36 | Beat +9% |
| 2026-02-11 | $0.51 | $0.48 | Missed -6% |
| 2025-11-04 | $0.34 | $0.34 | In line |
| 2025-08-06 | $0.29 | $0.35 | Beat +22% |
| 2025-05-08 | $0.26 | $0.25 | Missed -4% |
| 2025-02-11 | $0.43 | $0.44 | Beat +2% |
Across the last 6 quarters here, Shopify Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 3 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.
See who else reports over the next two weeks →
Where these figures come from
Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.
What are the scenarios for Shopify Inc.?
An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.
What are the pros, cons and common questions?
The case each way, and the questions people ask
Global commerce shifting decisively toward independent digital storefronts
Pricier valuation multiples contracting as growth eventually cools
What are the pros and cons of Shopify Inc.?
A balance check, not a score or verdict.
- Rapid revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago. of over 34 percent year-on-year
- Strong brand recognition among online retailers and independent brands
- Solid gross margin: The share of each £1 of sales left after the direct cost of making the product, before other running costs. Higher usually means more pricing power. keeping nearly half of sales after direct costs
- High price-to-earnings ratio means little room for operational mistakes
- No dividend paid out to shareholders
- High stock price volatility indicated by a beta well above average
- Vulnerability to broader economic slowdowns affecting consumer spending
- Heavy competition from other e-commerce platforms and tech giants
- High expectations baked into the share price could cause sharp drops if growth slows
The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.
- A multi-quarter deceleration in merchant sales growth
- Persistent compression of profit margins despite rising sales
Common questions about Shopify Inc.
Does Shopify Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Shopify Inc. does not currently pay a dividend, so the return would rest on the share price. Many growing companies reinvest profits instead of paying them out.
When does Shopify Inc. report earnings next?
Shopify Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-03. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.
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Alfa Financial Software Holdings PLCBuilt from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →
This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.