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How crazy was Shopify’s 2020? Well, a 192 per cent return – through Dec. 30 – sounds amazing enough.

But when you look at how much market capitalization the e-commerce giant added, Shopify’s stock performance for the year just ended is all the more astonishing.

Shopify blew past Royal Bank of Canada in early May to become Canada’s most valuable company. As 2020 closed, Shopify’s market capitalization was roughly $182 billion, versus RBC’s $149 billion, according to S&P Global Market Intelligence.

canada’s most valuable company

Market cap, in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

$182

$149

$33

Shopify

RBC

Telus

Addition to 2020 market cap,

in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

Shopify

+$122

The other 221 companies

in the S&P/TSX Composite,

combined

+$28

Canadian National

Railway

+$15

tHE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE: S&P Global Market Intelligence

canada’s most valuable company

Market cap, in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

$182

$149

$33

Shopify

RBC

Telus

Addition to 2020 market cap, in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

Shopify

+$122

The other 221 companies

in the S&P/TSX Composite,

combined

+$28

Canadian National

Railway

+$15

tHE GLOBE AND MAIL

SOURCE: S&P Global Market Intelligence

canada’s most valuable company

Market cap, in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

$182

$149

$33

Shopify

RBC

Telus

Addition to 2020 market cap, in billions of dollars, as of Dec. 30

Shopify

+$122

The other 221 companies

in the S&P/TSX Composite,

combined

+$28

Canadian National Railway

+$15

tHE GLOBE AND MAIL, SOURCE: S&P Global Market Intelligence

The difference of nearly $33 billion is bigger than the market value of all but 20 other companies in Canada. Big names with a capitalization of about $33 billion include Suncor Energy Inc., Sun Life Financial Inc. and Telus Corp. Over the course of 2020, Shopify added $122 billion to its market capitalization.

Aside from it and RBC, only Toronto-Dominion Bank has $100 billion in market value. (Canadian National Railway Co. was right around the $100 billion mark as the year ended.) The other 221 companies in the S&P/TSX Composite, combined, added just $28 billion in market cap this year (including both the gainers and the losers, of which there were many). Only CN and Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. managed to add more than $10 billion in market cap this year.

Put another way, the $122 billion Shopify added in 2020 is more than the $112 billion worth of BCE Inc., Telus and Rogers Communications Inc. combined.

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Tickers mentioned in this story

Study and track financial data on any traded entity: click to open the full quote page. Data updated as of 18/03/24 4:00pm EDT.

SymbolName% changeLast
SHOP-T
Shopify Inc
+0.43%104.93
SHOP-N
Shopify Inc
+0.48%77.52

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