Author: Irene Galea

Shopify’s (SHOP-T) stock surged more than 13 per cent in Monday morning trading after the Nasdaq stock exchange announced the e-commerce company would join its 100 Index on May 19.

The tech-heavy benchmark tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

Shopify’s inclusion is expected to increase institutional investment in the company, as index-tracking funds must adjust their holdings to include Shopify.

“We think it’s positive in that it should increase the demand and liquidity [because] a wider range of funds tracking that index would need to buy shares. Beyond that, we think it also elevates the company’s profile with investors,” said National Bank analyst Richard Tse in an e-mail.

Shopify posts strong first-quarter revenue growth, but outlook lags expectations

In a note to investors Monday, Royal Bank of Canada analyst Paul Treiber said the inclusion was likely to result in greater liquidity in the shares, and may result in a share price premium relative to peers which are not included in the index.

The Canadian e-commerce business will maintain its dual listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In February, Shopify named a new U.S. executive office in securities filings for the first time and made several changes to its reporting format, suggesting it was positioning its shares to be included in major U.S. stock indexes.

And at the end of March, the company transferred its U.S. stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, saying it was doing so in order to more closely align itself with its software peers.

Shopify will replace computer program and database company MongoDB on the exchange.

Canadian companies shift focus to Europe for exports, growth

This U.S. shift comes during a period of heightened political and market attention on Canadian companies, as the country faces continued trade threats from the United States.

However, last week Shopify reported a 26-per-cent revenue jump in its first-quarter earnings, and the company’s results quelled investor fears about immediate impacts resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the removal of the de minimis exemption for China. The exemption allowed for the duty-free import of goods up to a value of US$800.

“The consensus view has been that the tariffs (macro) would have the company pausing or moderating growth expectations; yet, the outlook and commentary pointed to continued growth momentum,” said Mr. Tse in a note to investors last week.

Shopify’s (SHOP-T) stock surged more than 13 per cent in Monday morning trading after the Nasdaq stock exchange announced the e-commerce company would join its 100 Index on May 19.

The tech-heavy benchmark tracks the 100 largest non-financial companies listed on the Nasdaq exchange.

Shopify’s inclusion is expected to increase institutional investment in the company, as index-tracking funds must adjust their holdings to include Shopify.

“We think it’s positive in that it should increase the demand and liquidity [because] a wider range of funds tracking that index would need to buy shares. Beyond that, we think it also elevates the company’s profile with investors,” said National Bank analyst Richard Tse in an e-mail.

Shopify posts strong first-quarter revenue growth, but outlook lags expectations

In a note to investors Monday, Royal Bank of Canada analyst Paul Treiber said the inclusion was likely to result in greater liquidity in the shares, and may result in a share price premium relative to peers which are not included in the index.

The Canadian e-commerce business will maintain its dual listing on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

In February, Shopify named a new U.S. executive office in securities filings for the first time and made several changes to its reporting format, suggesting it was positioning its shares to be included in major U.S. stock indexes.

And at the end of March, the company transferred its U.S. stock listing from the New York Stock Exchange to the Nasdaq Global Select Market, saying it was doing so in order to more closely align itself with its software peers.

Shopify will replace computer program and database company MongoDB on the exchange.

Canadian companies shift focus to Europe for exports, growth

This U.S. shift comes during a period of heightened political and market attention on Canadian companies, as the country faces continued trade threats from the United States.

However, last week Shopify reported a 26-per-cent revenue jump in its first-quarter earnings, and the company’s results quelled investor fears about immediate impacts resulting from U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariffs and the removal of the de minimis exemption for China. The exemption allowed for the duty-free import of goods up to a value of US$800.

“The consensus view has been that the tariffs (macro) would have the company pausing or moderating growth expectations; yet, the outlook and commentary pointed to continued growth momentum,” said Mr. Tse in a note to investors last week.

Years before contending to be Canada’s next prime minister, Liberal Leader Mark Carney was offered, and turned down, a job at the country’s most prominent technology company.

In March, 2020, Mr. Carney left his post as governor of the Bank of England after seven years, and was seemingly weighing options for his return to Canada. While he ultimately took a role at Brookfield Asset Management, the central banker was also offered a senior role at e-commerce company Shopify.

“We were super eager to recruit him at the company,” recalls Craig Miller, who interviewed Mr. Carney for the position. At the time, Mr. Miller was Shopify’s chief product officer, leading the rollout of new payment, retail and shipment features.

Book excerpt: How Shopify went from being a startup to an e-commerce giant

Shopify didn’t have a president then, and Mr. Miller said the company created the role in order to entice the former banker. “We really wanted him in the company, and we were trying to think, ‘what’s the best way to get him in the door?’”

By 2020, Shopify had hit its stride, expanding quickly from its early days as a scrappy start-up helping small businesses create online stores. In May of that year, the company’s stock had soared amid pandemic lockdowns and a sharp rise in e-commerce, pushing the company’s market capitalization above that of the Royal Bank of Canada – making Shopify the country’s most valuable public company.

At the time, the company was exploring how it could expand its financial offerings, such as Shop Pay, its native checkout and payment system. The former central banker’s financial and international experience seemed to be an appropriate fit for those needs, Mr. Miller said.

Shopify furthers shift toward U.S. with new executive office

Mr. Miller said the company felt his experience would bring new perspective to the fast-moving tech company that was, as he describes it, operating by trial and error.

“He was not the traditional person in tech, and that is actually what excited us,” Mr. Miller said. He disclosed in a post on LinkedIn this week that he would be voting Liberal on Monday.

Ultimately, Mr. Carney declined Shopify’s offer. In August, 2020, he instead joined Brookfield as chair and head of transition investing, where he expanded the company’s environmental, social and governance investing. Neither Shopify nor the Liberal Party responded to requests for comment.

It was also around this time that Mr. Carney started informally advising then-prime minister Justin Trudeau, stirring speculation that he could one day take over as finance minister.

Carney cuts business ties to Brookfield and other boards as he launches bid for Liberal leadership

He would keep a foot in the tech world, later joining payment processor Stripe as a board member.

Shopify found another candidate to become president: In September, 2020, the company appointed Harley Finkelstein to the job, and he is still in the role. Mr. Finkelstein had joined a decade earlier as chief platform officer, later serving as chief operating officer.

As the pandemic receded, Shopify’s stock took a sharp hit but has slowly crept back up since then, reaching a high of $181 per share on the Toronto Stock Exchange in February. But the company could now face growth headwinds owing to U.S. tariffs, global trade tensions and concerns about falling consumer demand. More than a dozen analysts recently reduced their targets for the company’s stock.

Shopify’s leaders have been vocal in recent months ahead of Monday’s federal election, criticizing the Liberal government for its spending. In a recent tweet, founder Tobi Lütke called Mr. Carney a “great candidate” but said the Liberal Party’s platform would commit Canada to “continued economic decline.” And last week, COO Kaz Nejatian posted on X that he had voted for Mr. Poilievre.