What happened

Shares of Shopify (SHOP 1.11%) climbed 8% on Thursday following the release of the e-commerce platform provider's third-quarter financial results. 

So what

Shopify's revenue jumped 46% year over year to $1.1 billion. The gains were driven by a 37% rise in the company's subscription solutions revenue, to $336.2 million, and a 51% surge in merchant solutions revenue, to $787.5 million.

Notably, Shopify's gross merchandise volume (GMV) -- essentially, the total dollar value of goods and services sold on its platform -- increased 35% to $41.8 billion, highlighting the magnitude of the company's growth in recent years. "It took 15 years for our merchants to get to $200 billion in cumulative GMV, and just 16 months to double that to $400 billion," Shopify President Harley Finkelstein said in a press release.

A rising bar chart.

Shopify continues to grow at an impressive clip. Image source: Getty Images.

With the economy reopening, Finkelstein noted that more transactions are taking place in physical retail locations, suggesting that Shopify is finding success beyond its core e-commerce business. "As the share of GMV from offline expanded within our total GMV, it is clear that entrepreneurs are embracing a future in which retail happens everywhere," Finkelstein said.

All told, Shopify's gross profit rose 50% to $608.9 million. However, the company's heavy investments in its fulfillment network and other growth initiatives weighed on its operating and net profits. As a result, Shopify's adjusted earnings per share fell 28% to $0.81.

Now what

Still, Shopify's results likely helped to reassure investors that its long-term expansion plans remain on track despite slowing growth for the overall e-commerce sector. "The economy remains resilient, consumer spending on services and off-line retail is expanding, and e-commerce, after easing from its peak share as a percent of total retail, is growing at a more normalized pace relative to 2020," the company said.