Are the valuations really too high - or is it just a case of investors getting cold feet?
After seeing the unraveling of WeWork's (WEWK) carefully-laid IPO plans, other publicly-listed disruptors' stock suffered disproporationately, even as US markets have been simultaneously driven down by turbulence surrounding lawmakers' push to impeach President Donald J. Trump. But, in the case of Shopify (SHOP) , the Canadian e-commerce startup should be exempt from American digital companies' woes. The data helps to explain.
Often, job postings are a signal of growth - and, this is especially true when you're looking at a developing digital company, as opposed to a decades-old legacy player. Shopify increased job postings 50% over the course of 2019, and didn't break pace even when the stock started to drop.
Still, Shopify continues to gain traction - another reason investors should probably be a little bit more upbeat after its shares fell more than 20% from September (and all-time) highs. The number of ratings submitted at the Google (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Play store reflect that the app continues to earn reviews, which is a reflection on how it continues to draw engagement. Ratings submitted at the store are up more than 45% this year.
Scant data exists to support a negative narrative around Shopify - part of the reason September's sell-off seems so overblown. But the most glaring bit of evidence that something could be unwell is the company's Indeed.com Overall Rating, gathered anonymously from staffers who submit reviews online. As the chart shows (and although a 4.0 out of 5.0 is an above-average score), workers' views of the company has begun to slide over recent years.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.