Shopify stock moved higher in pre-open trading, climbing 2.1% after BofA Securities started coverage of the e-commerce infrastructure provider with a Buy rating and a $150 price target. The bank framed the company as a compelling exposure to the rise of AI-native commerce, emphasizing Shopify’s role behind the scenes of online transactions.
BofA’s analysts highlighted the company’s core backend systems - specifically its checkout and payments infrastructure - as increasingly pivotal to agentic, AI-driven transactions. The firm portrayed those capabilities as the foundational plumbing for the next generation of online retail, a view that underpinned its Buy recommendation.
The timing of the initiation carries added significance given Shopify’s share price performance this year. Heading into today’s session, the stock had fallen by about 25% year-to-date, pressure that BofA suggested stems in part from investor concern about how AI could disrupt the company’s merchant ecosystem. BofA valued the business at 22 times its calendar-year-2027 estimated EV/Gross Profit, implying pronounced upside from current levels and aligning closely with the analyst community’s generally constructive stance. Consensus price targets among analysts sit near $148, according to the data referenced in the initiation.
Shopify’s next quarterly report, scheduled for July 29, represents a near-term catalyst that could either reinforce or challenge the bullish case laid out by BofA and other institutional investors. The upcoming earnings release will provide fresh data points on revenue, margins, and merchant trends that are central to the investment thesis.
The stock’s advance was also supported by a favorable macroeconomic backdrop. U.S. equities rallied in the prior session, with the Nasdaq rising by more than 1.1% as semiconductor names led a broad rebound across technology. The S&P 500 added 0.7% and the Dow Jones Industrial Average closed at a record high, moves that reflected improving investor risk appetite as market participants await the Federal Reserve’s meeting minutes later this week for guidance on the interest rate outlook.
Combined, the BofA initiation and the broader market strength helped Shopify recoup some of the ground lost during its year-to-date pullback. Institutional attention appears to be returning ahead of earnings season, but the stock remains well below its 52-week high of $182.19.