The company missed revenue expectations, a tough outcome in today's less forgiving tech market

Shopify topped profit expectations for the latest quarter but came up just short on revenue.

Shopify shares are set for a steep drop on Tuesday as investors pan a mixed earnings report.

The company, which provides tools to help businesses operate online stores, reported adjusted earnings per share of 49 cents for the September quarter, up from 34 cents a year before and ahead of the 47-cent FactSet consensus.

But revenue of $3.74 billion was below the $3.77 billion figure that analysts were modeling, a tough outcome in a market in which investors have become more discerning about technology companies' results.

Gross merchandise volume, or the dollar value of purchases made through Shopify's (SHOP) platform, was up 29.5% to $119.1 billion, but growth slowed from the 31.6% rate in the June quarter.

For the December quarter, Shopify said it expects revenue to grow at a percentage rate in the "low-30s." Analysts had been modeling 31% growth.

Shares were down 15% in premarket action on Tuesday. The stock trades at about 65 times estimates for forward earnings, while the S&P 500 SPX trades at a multiple of about 18 times forward earnings, according to Dow Jones Market Data. That means investors are paying far more for every dollar earned by Shopify than the S&P 500 on aggregate.

Shopify executives cheered the latest numbers. "Delivering these results at our scale speaks to the strength of our model, our multiple growth drivers and our expanding addressable market," CFO Jeff Hoffmeister said in a release.

President Harley Finkelstein called the report "the perfect example" of Shopify's ability to deliver on what merchants need today while investing in agentic commerce and other technologies of the future.

-Emily Bary