This TSX stock soared 28% this week with one analyst seeing ‘durable, profitable growth’

Shopify Inc. shares soared 28 per cent this week. Photo by HYUNGCHEOL PARK/Postmedia files

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Where analysts see share prices going after selected energy earnings, why one analyst sees value in buying gold again and more from The Week in Stocks.

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Stock of the week: Shopify Inc.

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Shopify Inc. (SHOP:TSX) appeared to counteract fears that artificial intelligence poses a threat to the e-commerce service provider as its shares soared 28 per cent this week — a top 15 finish on the S&P/TSX Composite index — on “a clean Q2 beat,” TD Cowen analyst Todd Coupland said in a note on Aug. 5. “We would buy SHOP for durable profitable growth and agentic commerce optionality,” Coupland said. Revenue, gross merchandise value (which measures the total value of goods sold) free cash flow and gross profit each rose by more than 30 per cent in the second quarter compared with the same period a year ago, with the trend expected to continue into the next quarter, Coupland said. He hiked his price target to $308 from $262. Shares closed Friday at $211.10. AI fears started to hound the stock earlier in the year, driving shares down as much as 44 per cent from early January to mid-May before they started to climb back up again as investors rethought concerns that AI would supply businesses with the tools needed to bypass Shopify. For J. Parker Lane, Stifel U.S. Equity Research managing director, Shopify earnings “validated two key pillars of our investment case,” including its pre-eminence in market share gains, which continue to outrun growth in the broader e-commerce sector, and its use of AI to build on its sector leadership. Lane hiked his price target for to $252 from $212. The 12-month price target for Shopify is $235.48 based on the calls of 50 analysts, according to Bloomberg.

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Keeping score

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Energy earnings give analysts fodder for share price target updates

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From oilsands giant Suncor Energy Corp. (SU:TSX) to pipeline operator South Bow Corp. (SOBO:TSX), plenty of Canadian energy companies reported earnings this week that moved the dial on price targets as they benefited from higher energy prices. Here’s a look at some analysts’ takes on where shares could be headed. RBC Capital Markets analyst Maurice Choy hiked his price target for Keyera Corp. (KEY:TSX) to $66 from $62 as the company said it expects projects to perform better than previously suggested by guidance. Shares closed Friday at $57.11. (RBC is acting as a financial adviser to Keyera on an acquisition deal.) Chris MacCulloch at Scotia Capital Inc. hiked his price target for Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ:TSX) to $73 from $71 on the belief that CNQ is among the best placed companies in the oilpatch to benefit from an improved climate in the Canadian energy sector. Shares closed Friday at $63.45. Suncor continues to number among RBC Capital Markets’s top global energy ideas for 2026, analyst Greg Pardy said in a note on Aug. 6, despite the company reporting mixed results for the second quarter that pushed shares down 10 per cent this week. Pardy reiterated his outperform rating and price target of $100 based on several metrics including “cash flow generation, an underleveraged balance sheet, attractive shareholder returns.” Shares closed Friday at $83.86. South Bow reported a positive revision to earnings for the year, Raymond James analyst Michael Barth said in a note on Aug. 6, adding he believes that positive final investment decisions for several projects not yet reflected in the value of the shares will boost the stock. Barth hiked his price target for South Bow to $62 from $61. Shares closed Friday at $49.66.

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One analyst sees value in buying gold again

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Gold flirted with bear market territory following the start the United States-Iran war, melting down by just over 25 per cent from the start of the war to mid-July when prices started to rebound. “A pullback was due,” Craig Bassinger, chief market strategist at Purpose Investments Inc., said in note on Aug. 3, but “more recently there has been certain shift in the market.” The precious metal has swung above US$4,300 even as yields rose, oil prices climbed again and the U.S. dollar held its ground, all typically kryptonite to higher gold prices. Bassinger said the fundamentals and structural conditions for gold ascendancy over the past few years remain in play including central bank purchases, which reaccelerated in the second quarter after slowing significantly in the first. “We view the risk/reward of owning the shiny yellow metal as positive once again,” with a second-half rebound possible, he said.

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Price target hikes and holds

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