Shopify's revenue forecast fails to impress, shares fall

Shopify Inc on Wednesday forecast slowing revenue growth for the current quarter despite price hikes and new product launches, signaling that macroeconomic challenges were weighing on its merchants' online businesses.

U.S-listed shares of Shopify, which started 2022 as the most valuable Canadian company before losing three-quarters of its value, fell about 8% in extended trading.

The technology company, which offers tools and services for businesses to set up their online stores, said it expects revenue growth in the "high-teen" percentages, while analysts had forecast a rise of nearly 20%, according to Refinitiv data.

"While our financial outlook assumes that the Covid-triggered acceleration of ecommerce continues to return to a more normalized rate of growth in 2023, there is elevated inflation and continued caution around consumer spending due to a variety of macroeconomic factors," the company said.

The e-commerce company, which traditionally catered to small businesses, has been focusing on adding big brands to its clients list as they look to sell directly to consumers and use some of Shopify's website creation and payment tools to set up their stores.

Shopify has roughly doubled subscription prices while taking measures such as workforce reduction to cut costs, bracing for a rough period as recession looms.

"For them to guide to high-teen growth after taking price increases that didn't factor into the last quarter, it seems very conservative," said Gil Luria, analyst at D.A. Davidson. 

Fourth-quarter revenue rose 26% to $1.7 billion, compared with analysts' average estimate of $1.64 billion, according to Refinitiv data.

On an adjusted basis, Shopify earned 7 cents per share, beating the expectation of a 1 cent loss.