The market is awestruck by the way tech giants are sinking billions of dollars into artificial intelligence. Return-wise, the stocks have delivered enormous gains to investors. In the North, Celestica is the AI king. It ranked number one on the TSX30 List, delivering a 1,599% return (dividend-adjusted share price performance) in three years.
Now, if you’re looking for a Canadian stock that could be the next AI winner, a company 10 times bigger than Celestica is the leading candidate. Shopify (TSX: SHOP) is on a resurgence this year, and emitting strong buy signals.
In early September 2025, the $292.3 billion e-commerce platform unseated Royal Bank of Canada as the most valuable publicly listed Canadian company. It was the second time this tech powerhouse has done the feat. As of this writing, RBC has regained its position.
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A grand comeback
The TMX Group introduced the inaugural TSX30 in 2019, a flagship program recognizing the 30 top-performing TSX stocks over a three-year period. Weed stocks were the year’s biggest draw because of the highly anticipated legalization of marijuana in Canada.
Cannabis company Canopy Growth ranked first and Shopify second. The following year, Canopy slid to the 18th spot, while Shopify rose to number 1, owing to a 1,043%-plus return over three years. Consumer enthusiasm for online shopping heightened in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic.
SHOP dropped to number 2 in 2021, then disappeared from the list in 2022, 2023, and 2024. However, technology, along with the basic materials sector, gathered momentum, helping the TSX post multiple record highs during the torrid rally since April 2025.
In the 2025 TSX30, Shopify is back as one of the standout growth stocks, placing 20th. The four-time winner has completed a grand comeback.
Exceptional back-to-back quarters
Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify, said, “We build. We ship. We grow. That’s the model – and it’s running at full speed.” The financial results in Q2 and Q3 2025 validate the statement.
In the three months ending June 30, 2025, net income rose 430% to US$906 million versus Q2 2024. Free cash flow (FCF) in Q3 2025 increased 20.4% year-over-year to US$507 million. This marked nine straight quarters of double-digit FCF margins (18% for the quarter).
According to Jeff Hoffmeister, Shopify’s Chief Financial Officer, the company is delivering consistent growth and profitability, quarter after quarter. In the three months ending September 30, 2025, revenue grew 31.5% to US$2.8 billion compared to Q3 2024.
Notably, TSX data shows that the e-commerce giant’s market cap is 41% of the total market value of this year’s TSX30 winners.
Advantage in the AI era
Finkelstein said the ability to access the data from millions of merchants and billions of transactions is Shopify’s advantage in the AI era. The company sees AI as an “incredible tool” and calls it the “biggest shift in technology since the internet.”
An internal survey revealed that AI traffic is up seven times since the start of the year, while AI-driven orders went up 11 times. Financial strength, explosive growth, and a powerful AI technology are the compelling reasons to invest in Shopify today. SHOP’s year-to-date gain is 40%, but the overall return in 2026 could double due to the stock’s potential breakout.
