Shopify delivered a solid QQ4 2024 with a revenue of $2.812B, up 31% year over year and 30% quarter over quarter, and a robust gross margin near 48%. Operating income reached $465M with an operating margin of roughly 16.5%, reflecting continued operating leverage as the business scales. Net income stood at $1.293B and EPS at $1.00, but a sizable portion of pre-tax profitability was driven by non-operating income (totalOtherIncomeExpensesNet of $956M), which underscores a meaningful one-time or non-core component driving net earnings in the quarter. Absent this non-operating item, the core operating profitability is more modest, though still positive, underscoring a healthy cash-generating core business.
The company closed the quarter with a strong liquidity profile: cash and equivalents of $1.499B and total cash & short-term investments of $5.479B, yielding a net debt position of -$372M (net cash). Free cash flow was solid at $611M, and net cash provided by operating activities was $615M. Shopify’s balance sheet remains conservatively leveraged, with total debt of ~$1.13B and a large equity base, supporting ongoing investments in growth initiatives and potential strategic flexibility.
Looking ahead, Shopify’s growth runway centers on expanding monetization of its platform (Shop Pay, payments processing, and merchant solutions), extending fulfillment capabilities, and accelerating international adoption. The lack of formal forward guidance in the provided data requires a cautious view on near-term targets, but the underlying metrics suggest meaningful expansion in merchant value from enhanced services. Investors should monitor progression of core operating profitability, reliance on non-operating income in quarterly results, and the evolution of platform-level monetization versus merchant spend on optional services.