Chewy (CHWY -6.07%) has proven its strength in the U.S. market. The seller of just about everything you need for your pet reached profitability last year. And in the first quarter of this year, the online retailer increased earnings in the double digits -- and sales per active customer reached a record high.

That's why right now seems like a particularly good time to expand. Chewy has chosen the market of Canada as its first international venture. The company aims to launch there in the third quarter, starting with the Greater Toronto market, then expanding. Does this move make Chewy a buy? Let's find out.

The company pet parents love

First, a little background on this company that pet parents love. Chewy sells the usual supplies and treats you would expect from such a retailer. But it also offers a whole suite of medical services -- from telemedicine visits for your pet to pet insurance.

Another popular Chewy service is an element that saves you time and money. This is Autoship, a system that allows you to automatically receive products you regularly need, such as pet food. Chewy offers customers a discount on each of these orders. Saying Autoship is popular would be an understatement. Autoship customer sales accounted for almost 75% of Chewy's Q1 sales. This is proof that Chewy's customers don't just shop once on the e-commerce site. They keep coming back.

Last year, as mentioned above, Chewy reported profit for the first time. Things continued to go well in Q1. The company generated double-digit growth in revenue and in adjusted EBITDA. Gross margin of more than 28% widened by 90 basis points.

Now, let's talk about Chewy's international plans. Earlier this year, Chewy said it was preparing to expand outside of the U.S. -- but it didn't offer any further details. This week, though, Chewy filled investors in during its Q1 report.

So, why Canada? Chewy says it's a "large and growing market." Pet ownership is on the rise, in part thanks to more remote work. In Canada, about 40% of households own cats and more than 35% own dogs, according to Euromonitor research. Chewy says the Canadian market should be worth $12 billion to $15 billion over the coming five years -- and it's growing a bit faster than the U.S. market.

"Akin to the U.S. business"

Importantly, in this market, Chewy sees "a path to achieving market share and profitability akin to our U.S. business." If Chewy successfully makes it down this path, the international move could be worth billions of dollars for the company. This is great news for investors.

Above, I mentioned that this is a good time for expansion, due to Chewy's solid financials. But that's not the only reason. Chewy has completed a transition of its tech stack -- or technology needed to run its website -- into the cloud. This means Chewy now can launch Canadian operations without making a significant investment.

The company will work with a third-party fulfillment and logistics provider on site. Chewy will only rely on its U.S. network in cases where it makes sense on strategic and economic levels.

Because of this plan, Chewy predicts the expansion won't require much capital investment at least through next year. The idea is, the company won't have to invest heavily until the Canadian business takes off -- and at that point, spending more would be a wise decision.

So here we've got more good news for investors.

Is the stock a buy?

Now, let's get back to our question. Is the stock a buy today? Considering the international expansion and earnings growth so far, I would say "yes." Chewy is launching in a growth market without the need for a big initial investment -- and it's doing so now that it's profitable.

Chewy's share price looks right too. The company trades for 61 times forward earnings estimates, which isn't shocking for a growth stock. At the same time, that's much lower than its level in the past, when the company wasn't yet profitable.

All this means that now is a great time to get in on Chewy, and potentially benefit from this promising new international plan.