By Adriano Marchese
Ottawa-based Shopify is scheduled to report its results for the first quarter on Thursday. Here is what you need to know.
REVENUE: Revenue is projected to rise to $2.36 billion from $1.86 billion a year earlier, according to consensus expectations on FactSet.
ADJUSTED EARNINGS: On a per-share basis, analysts expect adjusted earnings to come in at 26 cents.
Shares fell 11% during the quarter and are currently trading about 1.5% higher in Toronto at 131.21 Canadian dollars.
WHAT TO WATCH
CONSUMER SENTIMENT: Investors will be keen to know how consumer confidence is shaping up given trade uncertainty pervading through global economies. Morgan Stanley analyst Keith Weiss says "customers are often taking a 'wait and see' approach with budgets given the severity of the impending tariff policy."
MERCHANT SENTIMENT: Similarly, investors will want to know how merchants are responding to the uncertainty. This could translate into a more cautious e-commerce environment, Weiss says. He notes that, as merchants prepare for uncertainty via tariff-mitigation strategies and efficiency improvements, among other things, there could be softness in demand for new projects and hesitancy to deploy capital to newer e-commerce initiatives.
SHOPIFY RESPONSE: Given all the moving parts in the economy, the question will be about how Shopify is using its levers to offset the challenges. Weiss says a combination of Shopify's capital-light and flexible operating model and its commitment to internally leveraging artificial intelligence should support margin outperformance, "a lever [Weiss] expects Shopify to pull more materially should demand prove softer."
Write to Adriano Marchese at adriano.marchese@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 07, 2025 10:48 ET (14:48 GMT)
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