What's going on?

Investors went on a splurge on Wednesday: Canadian ecommerce platform Shopify reported a better-than-expected second quarter, and they pushed its stock up 10%.

What does this mean?

Everyone from Kylie Cosmetics to Allbirds uses Shopify�s software to power their online stores, and that selection only grew as the pandemic forced physical stores to close and shoppers to head online. That caused the total value of items sold on Shopify�s platform to hit $30 billion last quarter � a 119% climb compared to the same time last year, and more than eBay sold in the same period. Altogether, it helped Shopify’s revenue rise by a higher-than-predicted 97%, and delivered a quarterly�profit�when analysts had been expecting a slight loss.

Why should I care?

For markets: List it and they will come.

An ecommerce company that�s benefiting from the pandemic-induced lockdown won�t come as a surprise to most investors: analysts have been forecasting it since March, and Shopify�s stock has more than doubled over the last six months. But Wednesday�s rise catapulted the platform to the title of Canada�s most valuable public company. It might�ve owed the uptick to the optimism investors harbor for the future: the number of new stores created on Shopify was up 71% last quarter compared to the first, which bodes well for its earnings momentum as they start selling in earnest.

The bigger picture: Good shop, bad shop.

Pretty recently, Amazon was the go-to choice for brands trying to boost their ecommerce presence. But between the fee hikes and the internet giant�s alleged use of third-party sellers� own data to compete with them, the market�s been ripe for an alternative � and Shopify seems more than happy to fill that niche. It�s even teamed up with fintech Affirm to give shoppers a way to buy things via payment plans rather than credit card.