Thanksgiving weekend is over, and investors are back to work in earnest. Overall, markets looked poised on Monday morning to give back some of their recent gains, with many commentators attributing declines of around 0.5% to 0.75% in stock index futures to concerns about Chinese protests over the government's ongoing zero-COVID policy.
Many investors were pleased with how the holiday shopping season kicked off over Thanksgiving weekend, though, and that helped contribute to solid gains in a pair of stocks. Shopify (SHOP -2.70%) and Pinduoduo (PDD -0.73%) serve different parts of the world, but both gave some information about business conditions that shareholders liked seeing. Read on for the details.
Shopify sees green from Black Friday
Shares of Shopify rose nearly 6% in premarket trading on Monday. The stock reacted positively to news that the online e-commerce platform provider released about how well its merchants did to start out the holiday shopping season.
Shopify announced a new record for shopping volume on Black Friday, with its merchants recording $3.36 billion from the beginning of the day in its easternmost time zone of New Zealand to the end of the day on the U.S. West Coast. The figure was up 17% from 2021's Black Friday performance, even including a 2-percentage-point negative impact on sales from currency impacts. The day's volume peaked shortly after noon ET on Friday, with sales of $3.5 million per minute recorded on the platform.
Shopify also provided some interesting information on where sales were strongest. Geographically, the U.S., U.K., and Canada had the most shoppers, with London, New York, and Los Angeles predictably heading the list of top cities. From a product perspective, Shopify saw the most activity in apparel and accessories, health and beauty, and home and garden. Average cart prices topped the $100 mark, with 15% of total orders representing cross-border activity.
Shareholders have had some concerns lately that Shopify could be exposed to slower economic growth worldwide. Based on Black Friday's results, however, Shopify seems to be holding up better than some had expected, and that could bode well for the stock over the long haul.
Pinduoduo defies China concerns
On the other side of the globe, shares of Pinduoduo jumped nearly 15% in premarket trading on Monday. Even with worries about China weighing on the broader market, the e-commerce specialist continued to show strong growth in its third-quarter financial report, reassuring investors who had been nervous about its prospects.
Pinduoduo's business numbers were impressive. Revenue jumped 65% year over year to $4.99 billion, with the company attributing the gains to rising sales from online marketing and transaction services that offset weakness in merchandise sales. Higher fulfillment and payment processing fees caused overall expenses to rise, but adjusted net income nearly quadrupled to $1.75 billion, or $1.21 per American depositary share.
Growth in the business came despite some challenges that Pinduoduo has faced recently. Executives cited the need to continue to boost investment in research and development (R&D), as business conditions affected some of the company's projects during the quarter. Pinduoduo hopes that its R&D spending will enable it to make supply chains even more efficient while bringing a larger number of potential clients into the digital economy.
U.S. investors have looked forward to long-term plans for Pinduoduo to expand across the Pacific. That might take a while, but based on its performance closer to home, Pinduoduo looks to have solid prospects to keep growing its global footprint in the years to come.
