Shopify tops $1 billion in quarterly sales for the first time as e-commerce spending stays strong

Company tops earnings, revenue expectations

Shopify Inc. topped $1 billion in sales for the first time in the June quarter as e-commerce spending remained strong amid the economic recovery.

Shopify shares rose 2% in premarket trading.

The e-commerce company posted revenue of $1.12 billion in the second quarter, up from $714 million a year earlier and ahead of the FactSet consensus, which called for $1.05 billion.

Shopify (SHOP.T) generated net income of $879.1 million, or $6.90 a share, compared with $36 million, or 29 cents a share, in the year-prior quarter. The company's net-income total included $778 million in unrealized net gains on equity investments.

On an adjusted basis, Shopify earned $2.24 cents a share, whereas it earned $1.05 a share a year earlier. Analysts tracked by FactSet were expecting adjusted per-share earnings of 97 cents.

Gross merchandise volume, or the dollar value of orders facilitated through the platform, increased 40% to $42.2 billion. Analysts were modeling $40.4 billion in GMV.

Gross payment volume, or the amount of GMV that went through the company's payments platform, rose to $20.3 billion from $13.4 billion and accounted for 48% of the GMV that Shopify processed during the second quarter.

"As consumer spending remained strong, our merchants thrived and extracted more value from our platform, contributing to our rapid growth," Chief Financial Officer Amy Shapero said of the overall results in a news release.

Shares of Shopify are up 34% over the past three months as the S&P 500 has risen 5%.