VISA, INC. 
(Reuters) - Canada's Shopify Inc
Shopify said more than half a million merchants now used its services, with Visa Inc (>> Visa) and BuzzFeed among the latest to sign up. Analysts at RBC said the number represented an increase of 70,000 merchants in the latest quarter.
"The fundamental shift in retail toward multi-channel and mobile, the ongoing adoption of Shopify by larger brands ... contributed to the strength of our results," Shopify Chief Financial Officer Russ Jones said in a statement.
Merchants both big and small use Shopify's software to design, set up and manage their stores across the web, mobile devices, social media platforms and brick-and-mortar outlets.
The Ottawa-based company counts Procter & Gamble Co (>> Procter & Gamble Company), Tesla Inc (>> Tesla) and Nestle (>> Nestlé) among its customers.
Shopify has been growing rapidly but is yet turn a profit since going public in 2015, as it spends heavily to gain market share in the burgeoning e-commerce industry.
Its revenue soared 75 percent to $151.7 million in the second quarter ended June 30, topping analysts' average expectation of $143.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Net loss widened to $14 million, or 15 cents per share in the quarter, from $8.4 million, or 10 cents per share, a year earlier as operating costs jumped 83 percent.
Excluding one-time items, Shopify posted a loss of 1 cent per share, smaller than analysts' expectations of 7 cents.
The company forecast revenue of $164 million to $166 million for the third quarter ending September. Analysts were expecting $156.6 million.
Shares of Shopify were up 8 percent at C$124.00 on the Toronto Stock Exchange. The company's U.S.-listed stock hit an all-time high of $105.77.
(Reporting by Ahmed Farhatha and Yashaswini Swamynathan in Bengaluru; Editing by Martina D'Couto and Sai Sachin Ravikumar)
By Ahmed Farhatha
