Analysts are bullish on the future of Shopify as it outperforms expectations and outpaces the online retail industry amid an economic downturn.

On Thursday, the Canadian e-commerce giant beat analysts’ expectations as it reported US$718 million in net income for its third quarter, up from a $159 million loss last year. The report also showed its revenue climbed 25 per cent compared to a year ago.

Gil Luria, senior software analyst at D.A. Davidson said Thursday Shopify’s results are “really impressive” and “rarified air.” 

“Shopify is doing so much better than the market it’s in,” he told BNN Bloomberg in a television interview. “It’s growing a lot faster than e-commerce. It’s growing its own volume greater than e-commerce. It’s growing its wallet share within its smaller merchants, it’s growing its wallet share within its large merchants … and above and beyond, they’re doing so with less expenses.”

In July, Shopify announced a slew of new products with a focus on artificial intelligence, including Shopify Magic, which can write product descriptions and email subject lines.

Luria said new products like Shopify Magic are part of the reason behind the company’s recent success.

“They focused on the products that are value added to their merchants,” he said. “At the low end, i’s products that make it easier for their merchants sell, (have a) better checkout experience, at the high end it’s really helping merchants with the omnichannel experience.”

With files from The Canadian Press