Shares of e-commerce platform Shopify jumped during the afternoon session after investment firm Piper Sandler reiterated its “Overweight” rating and set a price target of $150 per share. The positive momentum was driven by data showing explosive growth in the use of AI tools among the platform’s merchants.

Shopify shares traded roughly 3% higher than the previous close, cooling down to $104.01 after an initial 3.2% pop. Piper Sandler’s confidence was reinforced by a partner agency report that recorded a 100-200% increase in the usage of the built-in AI assistant, Sidekick, which allowed sellers to significantly reduce customer support costs.

The recent price of the company’s shares at $104.01 reflects the asset’s high volatility; it has dropped 33.8% since the beginning of the year and is trading 41.9% below its 52-week high of $179.01, reached in October 2025. Investor sentiment was further supported by news of a new AI tool launch from Brandfuel.ai and a recent $100 million investment from Joshua Kushner’s Thrive Capital.

Shopify overcame a temporary slowdown in new business growth recorded in the first quarter. Experts note that in the second quarter, onboarding dynamics rebounded to their previous trend, while the growing artificial intelligence ecosystem positions the platform as a prime beneficiary of AI integration in digital commerce.