Shopify soars to near $2-billion valuation in trading debut

Shares of Shopify (Shopify Stock Quote, Chart, News: NYSE:SHOP) are up more than 50% in its first day of trading on the TSX and New York Stock Exchange.

Earlier this week, there were signs that the Ottawa-based company might have a better-than-expected debut. The company’s IPO price was bumped to $17.00, from the $14.00 to $16.00 range that was guided, and the amount of money it raised was hiked to $131-million, instead of $100-million.

In April, Shopify announced it had filed for an initial public offering of up to $100 million, with Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets as lead managers. The company also listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange, under the ticker symbol “SH”.

Founded in 2004, Shopify now counts more than 100,000 retail customers from 150 countries, from small boutique retailers to Fortune 500 companies like IBM and General Electric. The company claims to have processed over $5 billion worth of transactions last year, using its easily deployed sales processing platform. The company’s revenue has risen from $23.7 million in 2012 to $105 million in 2014.

At press time, shares of Shopify were up 52.1% to $25.86. With 74.4-million shares outstanding, that places the company’s market cap just shy of the $2-billion mark.

Below: Ringing the Bell at the NYSE…