Shopify’s (SHOP.TO) shares fell more than 10 per cent Wednesday morning after the company delivered stronger-than-expected fourth-quarter results and outlined a strong push into what it calls the next era of agentic AI-driven commerce.
In its results, Shopify reported revenue rose 31 per cent year-over-year to US$3.67 billion and gross merchandise volume (GMV) increased 31.1 per cent from a year earlier to US$123.8 billion, reflecting strong merchant activity across the platform.
The company also posted a fourth-quarter profit of US$743 million, or 57 cents U.S. per diluted share, for the quarter ended Dec. 31.
Much of the discussion on the company’s earnings call focused on Shopify’s AI initiatives and how they are expected to reshape sales on the platform.
“The AI era has now reached commerce, and you’re about to see what that looks like at scale. You’re seeing the start of this new normal,” Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said this morning.
Shopify has spent the past year laying the groundwork for its AI tools, with plans to scale them more aggressively in 2026. Recent gains in the stock have been partly driven by investor optimism around its expanding suite of AI products, including an AI-powered store builder, a universal cart that allows shoppers to purchase from multiple merchants in a single checkout, a product discovery system known as Catalog and an AI assistant called “Sidekick.”
More recently, in January, Shopify launched its Universal Commerce Protocol (UCP), co-developed with Google, which aims to standardize how AI agents transact with merchants across the internet and allow merchants to sell across major AI platforms.
The company also unveiled an agentic plan to enable brands not currently on Shopify to distribute products across the same AI platforms. “Agentic” refers to AI systems that can act independently on a user’s behalf.
Finkelstein said orders coming to Shopify stores via AI are up 15 times year over year, though he acknowledged they are still coming from a small base.
“For buyers, it matters because it’s like having a personal shopper in your pocket — someone who really understands them, their taste, their preference, their size,” he said. “This used to be a luxury, but now it’s available to everyone, 24/7.”
One area of concern among analysts expressed during the call’s Q&A, however, was whether Shopify could be cut out of the take rate if shopping shifts to AI agents such as ChatGPT.
Finkelstein tried to reassure investors, saying “LLMs do not bypass Shopify’s checkout,” and that payments will continue to run through the company’s infrastructure.
“Shopify is sitting in attractive territory and is well-positioned to be a capital-light beneficiary from AI,” wrote ATB Capital Markets analyst Martin Toner in a note prior to the call.
This comes at a time when the broader software sector is grappling with investor concerns about AI-related risks., Unlike tech giants such as Amazon, Apple and Microsoft, Shopify is not weighed down by heavy spending on AI infrastructure.
“We’d expect shares to react positively with Shopify results clearly indicating the company is a beneficiary (vs being disruptive) of ongoing AI investments.” said Tyler Radke, co-head of U.S. software equity research at Citi, in a note after the call.
As of 10:52 a.m. ET Wednesday, Shopify shares were down 10.36 per cent at $154.77.