What happened
Shopify (SHOP -1.99%) stock is seeing another big sell-off in conjunction with bearish momentum for the broader market today. The e-commerce services company was down roughly 5.9% as of 1:15 p.m. ET Tuesday. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 index was down roughly 1.9%, and the Nasdaq Composite index had fallen 3.1% in the daily session.
While there doesn't appear to be any major business-specific news pushing Shopify's share price lower, investors are moving out of stocks following signs that the war between Russia and Ukraine could escalate and is coming to involve other countries more directly. Reports also emerged today that Russia has cut off gas supplies to Poland, prompting rising energy prices and new sources of economic and geopolitical uncertainty.
Image source: Getty Images.
So what
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov made comments on Monday suggesting that the potential risks of the war with Ukraine escalating to the point of nuclear weapons being used had become "very, very significant and should not be underestimated." While it's hard to determine whether Russia is contemplating or would actually use nuclear weapons in its war with Ukraine, the fact that the possibility is being mentioned in those terms by a state official is concerning, and the conflict's worsening outlook is prompting investors to sell out of stocks today.
Now what
Investors have been hit with an incredible array of risk factors and drivers of volatility less than four months into the year. In addition to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, high levels of inflation, rising interest rates, and underwhelming earnings performance have dampened investor enthusiasm and led to sell-off momentum that has hit growth stocks particularly hard.
Shopify now trades down roughly 68.5% year to date and 75% from the lifetime high it hit last November. The online retail industry remains poised for big growth over the long term, and the company remains a leading provider of e-commerce services. The stock looks attractively valued on the heels of recent sell-offs and likely has big upside at current levels, but it could continue to see volatile trading in the near term.
