Shopify shares surge 34% in premarket after strong Q3 outlook, and its crypto payments bet keeps getting bigger

Shopify just delivered the kind of earnings report that makes analysts rewrite their models. The company posted Q2 2026 revenue of $3.58 billion, blowing past consensus estimates of roughly $3.45 billion. Shares responded by rocketing as much as 33.8% in premarket trading. But the real fireworks came from the forward guidance. Shopify projected Q3 revenue growth in the low-thirties percentage range year-over-year. Analysts had been expecting something closer to 21.5%. The numbers behind the surge Gross Merchandise Volume, the total value of everything sold through Shopify’s platform, hit $115.51 billion for the quarter. CEO Tobi Lütke has been steering the company toward two big bets: AI-powered tools for merchants and aggressive international expansion. Both appear to be paying off. The crypto payments angle Wall Street keeps underpricing While Shopify’s earnings release didn’t specifically call out crypto or stablecoin metrics, the company has been quietly building one of the most comprehensive crypto payment integrations in mainstream e-commerce. Shopify has supported crypto payments through third-party gateways like BitPay and Crypto.com for years, allowing merchants to accept ...