Shopify Stock Rises on $100 Billion Q1 GMV and 34% Revenue Growth
Shopify stock rose after the company said merchants cleared more than $100 billion in gross merchandise volume in the first quarter ended March 31, 2026, while revenue grew 34%. The numbers point to a business still expanding across online, in-store, and other channels, with investors now looking at whether that pace can hold into the second quarter.
Harley Finkelstein on AI growth
Harley Finkelstein said, "Shopify has entered the AI era with a clear edge: strong, durable growth and two decades of commerce intelligence. That puts us in a category of one, and we're about to see that advantage compound throughout 2026," as the company released its results on May 5, 2026. The comment frames the quarter as more than a one-off sales print; Shopify is tying its growth story to product changes and the way merchants use its platform.
Jeff Hoffmeister said, "Q1 delivered broad-based growth across geographies, merchant sizes, and channels, with over $100 billion of GMV in the first quarter alone. That is the platform compounding. The durability of this model allows us to invest strategically in growth, both in the merchant-facing tools that drive commerce innovation and in the internal capabilities that let us build and ship faster."
Q1 margins and scale
15% free cash flow margins in the first quarter gave Shopify room to keep investing while still generating cash. That is the friction point in the report: the company is spending into growth, but it is doing so from a cash-producing base rather than from a weaker earnings profile.
Millions of businesses in 175+ countries use Shopify, and the company said its platform powers sales online, in-store, and everywhere in between. That spread helps explain why the GMV figure matters: the merchants using the system are not concentrated in a single geography or channel, which makes the growth rate harder to dismiss as a narrow surge.
Q2 guidance and 8:30 a.m. ET call
For the second quarter of 2026, Shopify expects revenue to grow at a high-twenties percentage rate year over year, gross profit dollars to grow at a mid-twenties percentage rate, and operating expenses to run at 35% to 36% of revenue. The company also expects stock-based compensation to be $145 million and free cash flow margin to be in the mid-teens.
At 8:30 a.m. ET on May 5, 2026, management was scheduled to hold a conference call on the results. The guidance gives traders the next read on whether Shopify can keep merchant activity at this scale while holding margins in the range it just outlined.
