Shopify Bulls Pile on With Even Higher Stock Price Expectations

(Bloomberg) -- Analysts are growing more bullish on Shopify Inc., with their average 12-month target rising above the share price for the first time since February.

Rosenblatt Securities analyst Mark Zgutowicz became the latest to raise his price target Wednesday, boosting it to $295 from $212. That brought the average to $255, about 5 percent ahead of Shopify’s Tuesday record closing price of $243.53 in New York.

The e-commerce platform has “only scratched the surface” with its “stellar” gross merchandise volume trajectory, Zgutowicz wrote in a note. The analyst sees an incremental $60 billion opportunity through 2027 in five international markets: Japan, Germany, France, Spain and Singapore. Just 10 percent of Shopify’s merchant base currently uses its non-English language platforms.

Shopify shares jumped 7.9 percent in New York on Tuesday, the most since December, after the company reported an unexpected first-quarter profit and revenue that beat analyst estimates. It rose a further 0.5 percent in early trading Wednesday before paring gains.

The stock is the fifth-best performer on Canada’s S&P/TSX Composite Index this year with a 73 percent gain to Tuesday’s close.

To contact the reporter on this story: Kristine Owram in Toronto at kowram@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Brad Olesen at bolesen3@bloomberg.net, Morwenna Coniam

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