It’s been an insane year for Shopify (TSX:SHOP)(NYSE:SHOP) and its investors. I’m sure Motley Fool investors have read all about the year the company has had. But let’s do a quick recap.
After reaching 52-week highs of $2,228, Shopify stock has since lost about 50% of its value during 2022 alone. This came from multiple streams. There was the crash in tech stocks, worry over future growth for Shopify, a developer dispute, and supply-chain disruptions coupled with inflation.
But what about those that have invested in recent years rather than months? What are their Shopify shares worth today? And, more importantly, could it be enough reason to hold on?
What happened?
Shopify stock came on the market in 2015 and had a few years of remaining fairly stagnant before taking off. Back in 2017, things started moving when the company announced it would be providing e-commerce sites for many provinces and territories come the legalization of cannabis.
But while cannabis stocks fell in 2018, Shopify stock only grew further. The company expanded at a significant rate, touching anything and everything it could if it was related to e-commerce in some way. It grew so fast that Amazon created a team dedicated to outdoing Shopify.
Enter COVID-19
Then the pandemic hit. Before then, analysts worried that Shopify stock wouldn’t be able to keep up with its strong share price should a market crash occur. And a crash did indeed happen — just not for the reasons analysts predicted.
Instead, the pandemic led to an increase in the use of e-commerce companies like Shopify stock. The company saw an enormous increase in e-commerce use, allowing it to move many of its growth strategies forward. This included things like Shopify Pay and the Shopify Fulfillment Network.
Shares of Shopify stock ballooned to $2,228 per share at its highest point. But then, the drop off came. Now, shares are back where they were years ago. So, what are those shares worth to someone who invested back in 2017?
Still growth
If you were a Motley Fool investor that purchased $10,000 in Shopify stock back in 2017, today that would be up 716% to $82,012 as of writing. In case you’re curious, that’s a share jump from $91.45 to $750 as of writing.
But what now? Shopify stock recently announced a stock split that would give shareholders nine more shares for every Shopify stock they own. Today, that would bring the price to a much more affordable and hopefully less volatile $75 per share. But the question is, is it enough?
Foolish takeaway
Analysts think it may just be. While Shopify stock certainly will see growth slow in the future, it’s on a clear path of growth that remains unshakeable for management. The fulfillment centres will be solid long-term savings, and its investments have been strong thus far.
Do I think 716% in returns is possible again? Probably not. But that shouldn’t deter you from considering Shopify stock — maybe after the stock split come June 28.
