Growth at a price

Article Excerpt

SHOPIFY INC. $227.53 (Toronto symbol SHOP; TSINetwork Rating: Extra Risk) (613-241-2828; www.shopify.ca; Shares outstanding: 110.6 million; Market cap: $25.1 billion; No dividend) offers merchants of all sizes Internet-based software to design, set up and manage stores across multiple sales channels. In the three months ended December 31, 2018, and excluding one-time items, Shopify made $27.9 million, or $0.26 a share. (All figures except share price and market cap in U.S. dollars.) That’s up 89.8% from $14.7 million, or $0.15 a share, a year earlier. The company continues to attract merchants to its platform. As a result, its revenue in the latest quarter jumped 54.3%, to $343.9 million from $222.8 million a year earlier. Shopify’s balance sheet is strong: it holds cash of $2.0 billion and has no debt. We think its shares have room to rise. Meanwhile, though, the stock trades at a very high 245.0 times the forecast 2019 earnings of $0.70 U.S. a share. Shopify is a hold. hold…