NEW YORK, Jan 22, 2026, 13:20 (EST) — Regular session
- Shares of Shopify slipped in early afternoon trading, failing to keep pace with the broader market’s advance.
- Following reductions in its partnerships unit, the company is overhauling how it collaborates with third-party partners.
- Investors are weighing Shopify’s new initiatives around merchant finance tools alongside its AI-driven commerce standards.
Shares of Shopify Inc. slipped roughly 0.6% to $137.66 by early afternoon Thursday, after trading as high as $144.03 and as low as $137.33. The stock underperformed compared to the broader market, where the S&P 500 ETF rose about 0.8% and the Nasdaq 100 ETF climbed nearly 0.9%. Meanwhile, website builder Wix surged close to 6%.
Shopify is stepping up its focus on two key areas investors watch closely: the partner ecosystem that drives merchant onboarding, and the financial and payments tools designed to boost revenue per seller.
This matters now because both link directly to retention and volume. When partners and developers create more tools that lock merchants into Shopify, subscription demand gets a lift. And if a bigger share of a merchant’s transactions flows through Shopify products, fees and funding revenue can rise.
A Canadian tech site reported that Shopify cut jobs in its partnerships division amid a restructuring, wiping out several positions and a whole team. The company didn’t reveal how many were let go but said it’s “starting a new chapter” in partnerships, zeroing in on initiatives like “agentic commerce”—a broad term for AI tools that handle tasks such as shopping and checkout for users. 1
Atlee Clark, Shopify’s head of global partnerships, described the move as tightening the bond between product and partnerships. On Wednesday, Clark shared in a LinkedIn post that Shopify is “bringing product, partnerships, and community-building closer together.” He also revealed the company paid out over $1 billion to partners in 2025. 2
On Thursday, Shopify rolled out fresh updates to its merchant finance toolkit, aiming to simplify funding access and speed up cash flow within its admin dashboard. A company blog post unveiled a new “Capital flex account” available in the U.S., “dynamic” credit limits for Shopify Credit, and a bumped-up rewards cap now set at $250,000. Transfers made before 1 p.m. ET qualify for same-day ACH, the U.S. bank-transfer system. Shopify also clarified that Shopify Balance’s earnings rate is a reward, not interest, listing it at 3.32% for Shopify Plus stores and 2.29% for other plans as of Jan. 22. 3
Shopify seized the NRF 2026 retail conference earlier this week to pitch its AI-commerce strategy to investors and merchants. In a Jan. 20 recap, the company unveiled the “Universal Commerce Protocol,” an open standard co-created with Google. The goal: help merchants appear in AI-driven shopping experiences, while maintaining consistent pricing, discounts, and business rules across channels. “Through our collaboration with partners like Shopify we’re ensuring the protocol is interoperable,” said Ashish Gupta, Google’s VP/GM of Merchant Shopping, in the post. 4
Shopify’s stock remains caught between last year’s lows and its recent highs. According to the company’s investor site, the share price has fluctuated between $69.84 and $182.19 over the past 52 weeks. 5
The partner overhaul is a double-edged sword. Shopify’s changes might accelerate product launches and improve oversight on integrations, easing the path for big merchants. But if agencies and app developers get rattled—or if support falters following layoffs—it could undermine a key driver of Shopify’s growth over the years.
Investors are now focusing on whether Shopify will provide more clarity on the management and staffing of its partner program, along with signs that its finance and AI-commerce initiatives are gaining traction among merchants and boosting transaction volumes. The key event ahead is the quarterly earnings report, with MarketScreener’s calendar marking Shopify’s Q4 results release for Feb. 17. 6
