Shopify Announces First-Quarter 2024 Financial Results

“Shopify had a strong start to the year, building on the performance of 2023, delivering year-over-year revenue growth for the quarter of 23%, or 29% when adjusting for the sale of our logistics businesses, combined with 12% free cash flow margin,” said Jeff Hoffmeister, Chief Financial Officer of Shopify. “Looking ahead, we are committed to upholding our operational discipline and strong execution.”

First-Quarter Financial Highlights

• Gross Merchandise Volume¹ (“GMV”) increased 23% to $60.9 billion, an increase of $11.3 billion over the first quarter of 2023
• Revenue increased 23% to $1.9 billion compared to the prior year, which translates into year-over-year growth of 29% after adjusting for the sale of our logistics businesses
• Merchant Solutions revenue increased 20% to $1.4 billion compared to the prior year, driven primarily by the growth of GMV and continued penetration of Shopify Payments
• Gross Payments Volume² (“GPV”) grew to $36.2 billion, representing 60% of GMV processed in the quarter, versus $27.5 billion, or 56%, for the first quarter of 2023
• Subscription Solutions revenue increased 34% to $511 million compared to the prior year, driven by the growth in the number of merchants and the pricing increases on our standard subscription plans
• Monthly Recurring Revenue³ (“MRR”) as of March 31, 2024 increased 32% to $151 million compared to the prior year, driven by continued growth across all of our subscription plans. Shopify Plus contributed $48 million, or 32%, of MRR compared with 33% of MRR as of March 31, 2023
• Gross profit dollars grew 33% to $957 million compared to the prior year. Gross margin for the quarter was 51.4% compared to 47.5% in the first quarter of 2023, driven primarily by the lack of the dilutive impact of the logistics businesses and changes in pricing from standard plans, partially offset by the continued growth of Shopify Payments
• Free cash flow⁴ was $232 million compared to free cash flow of $86 million in the prior year
• Free cash flow margin⁴ for the quarter was 12% compared to free cash flow margin of 6% in the first quarter of 2023
• Cash and marketable securities were $5.2 billion as of March 31, 2024, and we had a net cash position of $4.3 billion after consideration of our outstanding convertible notes

2024 Outlook

The outlook that follows supersedes all prior financial outlook statements made by Shopify, constitutes forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable securities laws, and is based on a number of assumptions and subject to a number of risks. Actual results could vary materially as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control. Please see “Forward-looking Statements” below for more information.

Note that year-over-year comparability in our financial outlook will be impacted by the sales of our logistics businesses, which we expect will create a revenue growth headwind of approximately 300 to 400 basis points and a gross margin tailwind of approximately 200 to 300 basis points when compared to the second quarter of 2023.

For the second quarter of 2024, we expect:

• Revenue to grow at a high-teens percentage rate on a year-over-year basis, which translates into a year-over-year growth rate in the low-to-mid-twenties when adjusting for the 300 to 400 basis points impact from the sale of our logistics businesses;
• Gross margin for Q2 is expected to decrease by approximately 50 basis points compared to Q1 2024;
• GAAP operating expense dollars to be up at a low-to-mid-single digit percentage rate compared to Q1 2024, which translates into operating expenses as a percentage of revenue of approximately 45% to 46%;
• Stock-based compensation to be $120 million, and capital expenditures to be $5 million; and
• Free cash flow margin to be similar to Q1 2024 free cash flow margin. We have now delivered three consecutive quarters of double-digit free cash flow margin, with no expectation for this trend to change.

Quarterly Conference Call

Shopify’s management team will hold a conference call to discuss our first-quarter results today, May 8, 2024, at 8:30 a.m. ET. The conference call will be webcast on the investor relations section of Shopify’s website at https://investors.shopify.com/news-and-events/. An archived replay of the webcast will be available following the conclusion of the call.

Shopify’s First Quarter 2024 Interim Unaudited Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes and its First Quarter 2024 Management's Discussion and Analysis will be available on Shopify’s website at www.shopify.com and will be filed on SEDAR+ at www.sedarplus.ca and on EDGAR at www.sec.gov.

About Shopify

Shopify is the leading global commerce company that provides essential internet infrastructure for commerce, offering trusted tools to start, scale, market, and run a retail business of any size. Shopify makes commerce better for everyone with a platform and services that are engineered for speed, customization, reliability, and security, while delivering a better shopping experience for consumers online, in store and everywhere in between. Shopify powers millions of businesses in more than 175 countries and is trusted by brands such as Mattel, Gymshark, Heinz, FTD, Netflix, Kylie Cosmetics, SKIMS, Supreme, and many more. For more information, visit www.shopify.com. 

Forward-looking Statements

This press release contains certain forward-looking statements within the meaning of applicable securities laws, including statements related to Shopify’s planned business initiatives and operations and outlook, the performance of Shopify's merchants, and the impact of Shopify's business on its merchants and other entrepreneurs. Words such as “continue”, “could”, “will”, “believe” and “expect” or similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements.

These forward-looking statements are based on Shopify’s current projections and expectations about future events and financial trends that management believes might affect its financial condition, results of operations, business strategy and financial needs, and on certain assumptions and analysis made by Shopify in light of the experience and perception of historical trends, current conditions and expected future developments and other factors management believes are appropriate. These projections, expectations, assumptions and analyses are subject to known and unknown risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results, performance, events and achievements to differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. Although Shopify believes that the assumptions underlying these forward-looking statements are reasonable, they may prove to be incorrect, and readers cannot be assured that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements as a result of numerous factors, including certain risk factors, many of which are beyond Shopify’s control, including but not limited to: sustaining our rapid growth; managing our growth; our potential inability to compete successfully against current and future competitors; the security of personal information we store relating to merchants and their buyers, as well as consumers with whom we have a direct relationship including users of our apps; a cyberattack or security breach; our ability to innovate; the impact of worldwide economic conditions, particularly softening economic growth in key regions including Europe and the United States, including the resulting effect on spending by small and medium-sized businesses or their buyers; our current reliance on a few suppliers to provide the technology we offer through Shopify Payments; the reliance of our business, including the services we provide to merchants, in part on the success of our strategic relationships with third parties; our limited operating history in new and developing markets and new geographic regions; international sales and operations and the use of our platform in various countries; our potential inability to hire, retain and motivate qualified personnel, including key personnel; our reliance on third-party cloud providers to deliver our services; complex and changing laws and regulations worldwide; our dependence on the continued services and performance of our senior management and other key employees; payments processed through Shopify Payments, Shop Pay Installments, or payments processed or funds managed through Shopify Balance; our potential failure to effectively maintain, promote and enhance our brand; our history of losses and our efforts to maintain profitability; serious errors or defects in our software or hardware; evolving privacy laws and regulations, cross-border data transfer restrictions, data localization requirements and other domestic or foreign regulations that may limit the use and adoption of our services; acquisitions and investments, including strategic investments and fluctuations in our share of income and loss from equity method investment; risks associated with Shopify Capital, and offering financing to merchants; our potential inability to achieve or maintain data transmission capacity; potential claims by third parties of intellectual property infringement or other third party or governmental claims, litigation, disputes, or other proceedings; activities of merchants or partners or the content of merchants' shops and our ability to detect and address unauthorized activity on our platform; unanticipated changes in tax laws or adverse outcomes resulting from examination of our income or other tax returns; being required to collect federal, state, provincial or local business taxes, sales and use taxes or other indirect taxes in additional jurisdictions on transactions by our merchants; changes to technologies used in our platform or new versions or upgrades of operating systems and internet browsers; our potential inability to obtain, maintain and protect our intellectual property rights and proprietary information or prevent third parties from making unauthorized use of our technology; our pricing decisions and changes to our pricing models for our solutions; our use of open source software; seasonal fluctuations in our operating results; exchange rate fluctuations that may negatively affect our results of operations; our dependence upon buyers’ and merchants’ access to, and willingness to use, the internet for commerce; provisions of our financial instruments including our convertible notes; our potential inability to raise additional funds as may be needed to pursue our growth strategy or continue our operations, on favorable terms or at all; our tax loss carryforwards; the ownership of our shares; our ability to maintain an effective system of internal controls over financial reporting; the perceived impact of a return on investment without issuing a dividend; our status as a foreign private issuer and the laws applicable to us as a foreign private issuer; the impact of provisions of Canadian law applicable to us; provisions of our constating documents and charter documents; and other events and factors disclosed previously and from time to time in Shopify’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and the securities commissions or similar securities regulatory authorities in each of the provinces or territories of Canada. The forward-looking statements contained in this news release, represent Shopify’s expectations as of the date of this news release, or as of the date they are otherwise stated to be made, and subsequent events may cause these expectations to change. Shopify undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be required by law.

Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures

To supplement our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with United States generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), Shopify uses certain non-GAAP and other financial measures to provide additional information in order to assist investors in understanding our financial and operating performance. These measures are not recognized measures for financial presentation under U.S. GAAP, do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies.

Adjusted gross profit, adjusted sales and marketing, adjusted research and development, adjusted general and administrative expenses, adjusted impairment on sales of Shopify's logistics businesses, adjusted operating income/loss, adjusted net income/loss and adjusted net income/loss per share are non-GAAP financial measures that exclude the effect of stock-based compensation expenses and related payroll taxes, accelerated stock-based compensation, amortization of acquired intangibles, severance related costs, provisions associated with litigation-related accruals, real estate-related impairment charges, and impairment on sales of Shopify’s logistics businesses. Adjusted net income/loss and adjusted net income/loss per share also exclude unrealized and realized gains and losses on equity and other investments, net loss on equity method investment, and tax effects related to non-GAAP adjustments. Operating leverage is a non-GAAP ratio that is calculated by dividing adjusted operating expenses by revenue. Free cash flow is a non-GAAP financial measure calculated as cash flow from operations less capital expenditures. Free cash flow margin is a non-GAAP ratio calculated as free cash flow divided by revenue. Shopify considers free cash flow and free cash flow margin as indicators of the efficiency and liquidity of Shopify's business, showing cash available after capital expenditures, to make strategic investments and drive future growth.

Management uses non-GAAP and other financial measures internally for financial and operational decision-making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. Shopify believes that these non-GAAP measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making. The non-GAAP and other financial measures used herein be considered as a supplement to, and not a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with GAAP. See the financial tables below for a reconciliation of the non-GAAP measures.

⁽¹⁾ As the adjustments to GAAP net loss per share for the three months ended March 31, 2024 have resulted in an adjusted net income per share, the diluted GAAP net loss and the weighted average shares used to compute GAAP and non-GAAP diluted net (loss) income have been adjusted to reflect the effect of dilutive securities.

Free Cash Flow Reconciliation

The following table illustrates how free cash flow is calculated in this press release:

⁽¹⁾ Capital expenditures is equivalent to the amount included in “Purchases of property and equipment” on our condensed consolidated statements of cash flows for the reported period.

Financial Performance Constant Currency Analysis

The following table converts our GMV, revenues, gross profit and (loss) income from operations using the comparative period's monthly average exchange rates. The table below setting out the effect of foreign exchange rates on GMV and our consolidated statements of operations disclosure is a supplement to our consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP. We have provided the below disclosure as we believe it presents a clear comparison of our period to period operating results by removing the impact of fluctuations in foreign exchange rates and to assist investors in understanding our financial and operating performance. Adjusted gross profit and adjusted operating income/loss are not recognized measures for financial statement presentation under U.S. GAAP, do not have standardized meanings, and may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other public companies. Such non-GAAP financial measures should be considered as a supplement to, and not as a substitute for, or superior to, the corresponding measures calculated in accordance with U.S. GAAP.

Key Performance Indicators

The following represents a summary of our key performance indicators, along with period-over-period changes:

⁽¹⁾ Attach rate is defined as total revenue divided by GMV and is a key performance indicator of our business and our ability to generate greater value for our merchants.

⁽²⁾ In the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company revised the inclusion of paid trials in the calculation of MRR. Revised MRR for the three months ended March 31, 2023, June 30, 2023, September 30, 2023 and December 31, 2023 were $114 million, $135 million, $137 million, $144 million, respectively.

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¹Gross Merchandise Volume, or GMV, represents the total dollar value of orders facilitated through the Shopify platform including certain apps and channels for which a revenue-sharing arrangement is in place in the period, net of refunds, and inclusive of shipping and handling, duty and value-added taxes.

²Gross Payments Volume, or GPV, is the amount of GMV processed through Shopify Payments.

³Monthly Recurring Revenue, or MRR, is calculated by multiplying the number of merchants by the average monthly subscription plan fee in effect on the last day of that period and is used by management as a directional indicator of subscription solutions revenue going forward assuming merchants maintain their subscription plan the following month. In the three months ended March 31, 2024, the Company revised the inclusion of paid trials in the calculation of MRR. Please refer to “Key Performance Indicators” below for more information.

⁴Free Cash Flow and Free Cash Flow Margin are non-GAAP financial measures. Please refer to “Non-GAAP and Other Financial Measures” below for more information.