Shopify Inc (NYSE:SHOP) shares are trading narrowly higher Tuesday after JPMorgan initiated coverage on the stock suggesting further upside from current levels.
What Happened: JPMorgan analyst Reginald Smith initiated coverage on Shopify with an Overweight rating and announced a price target of $74 as the analyst anticipates continued industry-leading growth from the e-commerce company. Given the recent decline in shares, Smith sees a buying opportunity in Shopify stock.
Shopify shares are down about 19.1% year-to-date. A large part of the decline took place in early May when Shopify beat analyst estimates for the first quarter, but issued a cautious second-quarter outlook.
Several analysts have weighed in on the stock since that time with 12-month price targets ranging from $63 to $95, according to Benzinga Pro.
Shopify is not due to report earnings again until the end of July. Analysts currently forecast earnings of 20 cents per share on revenue of $2.009 billion.
How To Buy SHOP Stock
By now you're likely curious about how to participate in the market for Shopify – be it to purchase shares, or even attempt to bet against the company.
Buying shares is typically done through a brokerage account. You can find a list of possible trading platforms here. Many will allow you to buy 'fractional shares,' which allows you to own portions of stock without buying an entire share. In the case of Shopify, which is trading at $63.01 as of publishing time, $100 would buy you 1.59 shares of stock.
If you're looking to bet against a company, the process is more complex. You'll need access to an options trading platform, or a broker who will allow you to 'go short' a share of stock by lending you the shares to sell. The process of shorting a stock can be found at this resource. Otherwise, if your broker allows you to trade options, you can either buy a put option, or sell a call option at a strike price above where shares are currently trading – either way it allows you to profit off of the share price decline.
SHOP Price Action: Shopify shares were up 1.41% at $63.90 at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.
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