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SHOP · Forward model · Subscription solutions · Bull case

What has to happen in Subscription solutions

Model as of

This page changes Subscription solutions inside the complete SHOP model. Every other vertical, corporate programme and valuation assumption stays in the selected portfolio case.

SHOP forward model
Horizon
Consolidated fair value $224.60 all other verticals held in this portfolio case
Final-quarter revenue $1.69B 15% of company revenue
Explicit segment contribution $16.47B EBITDA less segment capex, before corporate items

Both drivers were still accelerating at the basis quarter and management beat every line it guided. In May it guided 2026 Q2 revenue to a high-twenties growth rate, operating expenses to 35-36% of revenue and free cash flow margin to mid-teens; it delivered 34%, 34.05% and 18%. Payments penetration added three points in a year to 68% of global GMV, so the attach rate has runway outside North America even as the United States matures. Operating expense fell 3.67 points of revenue year over year on headcount discipline, and this case takes overhead toward 25% - carried as a 2.3-point margin credit because the engine has one overhead rate, not a glide. The scenario tilt is +0.8% a quarter on revenue, which the control panel reads as GMV growth of 7.2% rather than 6.4%; the discount rate eases to 8.5% and the exit holds a 9x growth multiple. Fair value $224.60, 50% above the price.

Subscription solutions

Basis quarter$802M
Final quarter$1.69B
Implied CAGR+16%
Final revenue mix15%

The recurring half of Shopify's two disclosed revenue lines: platform plans from Basic to Plus, POS Pro subscriptions, variable platform fees charged to large merchants above contractual GMV thresholds, themes, Shopify-sold apps and domains. It was $802M of the $3,583M basis quarter - 22.4% of revenue - at a 79.7% gross margin against merchant solutions' 38.4%, so it is a minority of revenue and close to half of gross profit. The disclosed volume metric is MRR, $221M at 30 June 2026 and up 19% year over year, but Shopify has never published a merchant count, so a subscribers x ARPU driver would have to invent the subscriber base. The line is modelled as a deseasonalised growth trend instead.

Last four quarters
2025 Q3 $699M Reported
2025 Q4 $777M Reported
2026 Q1 $750M Reported
2026 Q2 $802M Reported
Platform subscription plans (Basic, Grow, Advanced, Plus)Variable platform fees on Plus merchants above contractual GMV thresholdsPoint of Sale Pro subscriptionsThemes, Shopify-sold apps and domain registrations
Sequential growth +4.3%/qtr decaying toward +1.4% Deseasonalised trend, between the 8-quarter mean of 4.53% and the 12-quarter mean. No price rise announced.
Subscription solutions

Latest: $1.69B (2031Q2E)

Period Value
2023Q1 $382M
2023Q2 $444M
2023Q3 $486M
2023Q4 $525M
2024Q1 $511M
2024Q2 $563M
2024Q3 $610M
2024Q4 $666M
2025Q1 $620M
2025Q2 $656M
2025Q3 $699M
2025Q4 $777M
2026Q1 $750M
2026Q2 $802M
2026Q3E $868M
2026Q4E $948M
2027Q1E $901M
2027Q2E $969M
2027Q3E $1.04B
2027Q4E $1.13B
2028Q1E $1.07B
2028Q2E $1.14B
2028Q3E $1.22B
2028Q4E $1.32B
2029Q1E $1.24B
2029Q2E $1.32B
2029Q3E $1.41B
2029Q4E $1.51B
2030Q1E $1.42B
2030Q2E $1.50B
2030Q3E $1.60B
2030Q4E $1.71B
2031Q1E $1.60B
2031Q2E $1.69B

Assumptions & reasoning

  • Shopify has ONE reportable segment - the CODM is the CEO, managing on consolidated net income. Subscription solutions and merchant solutions are disaggregated revenue lines printed on the face of the income statement every quarter with their own cost of revenues. That is a disclosed split, not an apportioned one.
  • Driver kind is deliberately 'growth', not 'subscription'. Shopify publishes MRR but has never published a paying-merchant count, and inventing a subscriber base to back into $802M would manufacture a split the company does not report.
  • Seasonality is mild and derived, not disclosed: [0.955, 0.982, 1.011, 1.052] by calendar quarter, from a ratio-to-moving-average on the fourteen quarters 2023 Q1 - 2026 Q2. Amplitude is 0.097 index points against a worst per-quarter observation spread of 0.030. The Q2 and Q3 factors are indistinguishable in this data; only the Q4-up, Q1-down axis is load-bearing.
  • The mechanism behind the mild shape is disclosed: variable platform fees are charged to Plus merchants above GMV thresholds, and Plus GMV spikes at the holidays, so part of this 'recurring' line is in fact GMV-linked and a GMV shock hits both verticals at once.
  • Because the engine deseasonalises the basis quarter before the driver runs, 4.3% is a deseasonalised TREND rate, not a printed sequential step. The printed 2026 Q3 step off $802M is about +7.4% once the Q3 factor is reapplied.
  • Fiscal note: Shopify's fiscal year is the calendar year, so seasonality index 0 is genuinely January-March and no fiscal-to-calendar mapping is needed.
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