What happened
Shares of Shopify (SHOP 0.23%) popped today, seemingly on no company-related news. Investors may be pushing the stock higher in anticipation of the upcoming first-quarter 2021 results that will be released on April 28.
The tech stock was up by 5.6% as of 3:06 p.m. EDT on Monday.
So what
Shopify benefited from lockdowns and social distancing as businesses of all sizes turned to the company's platform to stay up and running in 2020. And even with several vaccines available in the U.S. and the economy beginning to reopen, analysts are still anticipating strong growth in Shopify's upcoming results.
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Analysts' consensus earnings estimate for the first quarter is $0.75 per share, which would be a significant increase from the $0.19 in the year-ago quarter.
Even with that estimated earnings growth, some analysts have taken a cautious approach to Shopify recently. CIBC cut Shopify's price target today from $1,7500 to $1,325.
But with the company's stock price rising today, it appears most investors ignored news of Shopify's stock receiving a price-target cut.
Now what
Investors will want to keep a close eye on what Shopify's management says in the company's quarterly earnings call on Wednesday. Aside from the first-quarter results, it could shed some light on how the e-commerce company will navigate the transition from stellar growth during the height of the pandemic to a post-COVID economy.
