Shopify CEO ready to address “short-selling troll” during Q3 earnings report

TORONTO – Shopify Inc. will report its third-quarter results Tuesday, following a tumultuous month after an activist short-seller alleged the company operates outside the law.

CEO Tobias Lutke has said the Ottawa-based technology firm, which provides merchants with online checkout services, stands behind its mission.

He has promised to address comments made by Andrew Left of Citron Research, who Lutke called a “short-selling troll,” during a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

Shares of Shopify (TSX:SHOP) were up $2.63, or 1.91 per cent, to $140.22 at the close of markets Monday.

On Oct. 4, Left released a video attacking Shopify’s business model. He claimed the company does not comply with guidelines set by the Federal Trade Commission and suggested the stock’s value is closer to US$60 before any potential FTC involvement.

Shopify’s stock fell $16.75 on the Toronto Stock Exchange the day of the report.

Since the news broke, its shares on the TSX continued to shed another $13.96, hitting a monthly low of $115.76 on Oct. 10, before starting to recoup some of those losses.