Shopify Inc. delivered third-quarter results Thursday that crushed expectations as the company continued to benefit from an e-commerce surge during the COVID-19 crisis, though its shares fell slightly in morning trading.
The company, which runs a platform for merchants who want to set up online shops, posted third-quarter net income of $191.1 million, or $1.54 a share. A year earlier it had recorded a net loss of $72.8 billion, or 64 cents a share.
On an adjusted basis, Shopify SHOP, -0.54% earned $1.13 a share, whereas it posted a 29-cent adjusted loss per share a year prior. Analysts surveyed by FactSet were modeling 52 cents in adjusted earnings per share.
Shopify’s revenue for the quarter nearly doubled to $767.4 million from $390.6 million, while analysts had been expecting $663.1 million. The company’s sales consisted of $245.3 million in subscription revenue mainly due to new merchants joining the platform, as well as $522.1 million in merchant-solution revenue that was largely driven by growth in gross merchandise volume.
Shopify saw $30.9 billion in gross merchandise volume for the period, up 109% from a year prior.
“The accelerated shift to digital commerce triggered by COVID-19 is continuing, as more consumers shop online and entrepreneurs step up to meet demand,” Chief Executive Harley Finkelstein said in the earnings release.
Shopify noted that in the third quarter, it began rolling out a payment option for select merchants that lets consumers split their payments into installments. This buy-now-pay-later option has helped merchants “boost sales through increased cart size and higher conversion,” Shopify said in its release.
The company declined to provide a fourth-quarter outlook.
The shares have rallied 156% so far this year as the S&P 500 SPX, +0.85% has gained 2%.
