Shares of Shopify (SHOP 0.78%) soared 7.4% on Thursday following the e-commerce platform specialist's second-quarter update, which featured better-than-expected earnings and revenue results. Strong growth in the period was fueled by an increase in the number of merchants on its platform, and by a huge jump in merchant solutions revenue.
To help investors fully grasp Shopify's wild momentum, here are seven key metrics from the quarter.
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1. Revenue jumped by 48%
Shopify's total revenue rose 48% year over year to $362 million. This easily beat analysts' average forecast for revenue of $350 million.
While that was impressive, it was a slight deceleration from the 50% growth the company delivered in Q1.
2. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.14
Shopify's non-GAAP (adjusted) net income was $15.8 million, translating to earnings per share of $0.14 -- crushing analysts' average forecast for adjusted EPS of $0.02. A year ago, those figures were $2.5 million and $0.02, respectively.
3. Gross margin was 56.6%
Playing a role in Shopify's improved profitability during the quarter was its expanded gross margin. Gross margin in Q2 was 56.6%, up from 55.9% in the year-ago quarter.
4. Subscription solutions revenue increased by 38%
Shopify's subscription solutions revenue, which primarily derives from subscriptions to its platform but also includes sales of themes, apps, and registrations of domain names, continued to grow nicely in Q2. Revenue in the segment was up 38% year over year.
"This increase was driven primarily by growth in Monthly Recurring Revenue ("MRR"), largely due to an increase in the number of merchants joining the Shopify platform," management said in the earnings release.
5. Merchant solutions revenue soared by 56%
Shopify labels its income from payment processing, transaction, and referral fees, as well as from sales of its point-of-sale hardware, as merchant solutions revenue. This category of revenue skyrocketed 56% year over year during the quarter. Key catalysts included a 51% increase in gross merchandise volume (GMV) and robust growth in Shopify Capital and Shopify Shipping.
6. Shopify Payments volume surged
Use of the company's native payment processing solution, Shopify Payments, surged during the quarter, rising 61% to $5.8 billion. It also processed 42% of GMV during the quarter, up from 40% of GMV in the year-ago quarter.
7. Management expects 2019 revenue to be as high as $1.53 billion
In light of the company's strong momentum, management increased its outlook for full-year revenue to a range of $1.51 billion to $1.53 billion. The previous forecast range was $1.48 billion to $1.5 billion.
