NEW YORK, Jan 2, 2026, 14:43 ET — Regular session
- Shopify shares fell about 1.8% in afternoon trading after a Canadian appeals court ordered the company to retain certain merchant data.
- The Canada Revenue Agency is seeking years of records as part of a tax compliance case it has been pursuing since 2023.
- Investors are also weighing rate-sensitive software sentiment ahead of next week’s U.S. jobs report and the late-January Fed meeting.
Shares of Shopify Inc (SHOP) slid about 1.8% to $158.08 in afternoon trading on Friday after a Canadian appeals court ordered the e-commerce company to retain data at the center of a dispute with the Canada Revenue Agency.
The order matters because it keeps a high-profile fight over platform data alive at a time when governments are pushing harder to audit online commerce. For Shopify, the case adds legal uncertainty around how long it must preserve records tied to merchants that use its software.
The Minister of National Revenue asked Judge Nathalie Goyette to require Shopify to retain the data, arguing the company deletes information from inactive accounts after two years. The CRA has been seeking six years of data from Shopify merchants since 2023 to check compliance with Canada’s Income Tax Act and Excise Tax Act; a Federal Court judge last June refused to order the disclosure, and the agency appealed.
Shopify opened at $162.19 and traded between $155.17 and $164.50 on Friday, after closing at $160.97 on Dec. 31. U.S. stocks were mixed, with early gains in technology names fading as the market wobbled into the new year.
Software sentiment has also been in focus. Oppenheimer highlighted Shopify among software names it sees as positioned for a rebound in 2026, with analyst Ken Wong writing: “We expect interest to gravitate towards companies that consistently beat and raise,” in a note that also pointed to Wix.com and HubSpot. Barron’s
Shopify is often treated as a read-through on high-growth “software-as-a-service,” meaning subscription software delivered over the internet. Those stocks can be sensitive to shifts in interest-rate expectations because higher rates tend to reduce the value investors place on profits expected further out.
Macro events are lining up quickly. Markets are watching the U.S. jobs report due Jan. 9 and the Federal Reserve’s next policy meeting scheduled for Jan. 27-28, both of which can move rate-cut expectations and, in turn, growth shares.
Shopify’s core business sells software and services that help merchants run online and in-store commerce, while earning transaction-based revenue from payments and related tools. That model links its performance to consumer demand and overall retail activity on its platform.
In its last quarterly update in November, Shopify projected holiday-quarter revenue growth in the mid-to-high twenties percentage range, above analysts’ average estimate cited by LSEG, while noting that investments in AI features and marketing were lifting expenses.
Traders will be watching for the next procedural steps in the CRA appeal, including any signals on how long data must be preserved and whether a handover is eventually ordered. For the stock’s near-term calendar, Shopify has not announced a date for its next results, but earnings calendars from Nasdaq and Zacks currently estimate a report around Feb. 10.
