What happened
Shares of Shopify (SHOP 0.14%) climbed on Monday after the e-commerce infrastructure provider announced record-setting holiday sales. As of 3:15 p.m. ET, Shopify's stock price was up more than 3% after rising as much as 9% earlier in the day.
So what
Merchants on Shopify's platform generated a record $3.36 billion in Black Friday sales. That's a 17% year-over-year jump, and a 19% increase when excluding foreign exchange fluctuations.
"Black Friday Cyber Monday has grown into a full-on shopping season," Shopify president Harley Finkelstein said in a press release. "The weekend that started it all is still one of the biggest commerce events of the year, and our merchants have broken Black Friday sales records again."
Shopify noted that its merchants enjoyed peak sales of $3.5 million per minute on Black Friday. The e-commerce company also highlighted its increasingly international presence, with worldwide cross-border orders accounting for 15% of its total sales.
"Our merchants have built beloved brands with loyal communities that support them," Finkelstein said. "This weekend, we're celebrating the incredible power of entrepreneurship on a global stage."
Now what
Shopify's gross merchandise volume -- essentially, the total dollar value of merchant transactions facilitated by its platform -- grew by 11% in the third quarter compared to the prior-year period. So, the 17% rise in its merchants' holiday sales could be reflective of a broader reacceleration in Shopify's revenue growth.
That would be welcome news for investors, who have endured the sharp downturn in Shopify's share price that's coincided with a pullback in online spending, following torrid e-commerce growth earlier in the pandemic.
