Former Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC) Middleweight champion Sean Strickland is four days removed from being completely shut out at UFC 312 by Middleweight kingpin Dricus du Plessisvia unanimous decisionfrom inside Qudos Bank Arena in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia (watch highlights).
Today (Wed., Feb. 12, 2025), Strickland hopped on his social media to respond to his head coach, Eric Nicksick, criticizing his performance and, in the process, revealed a laundry list of problems he was dealing with before the fight.
“Man, that entire fight camp was just a struggle, like it was a f—king struggle. And guys, we all have excuses as to why we didn’t win or why we won, and we shouldn’t have won. We all f—king have excuses, and they don’t f—king matter,” Strickland said. “This is not an excuse, but that entire camp was just a struggle of, ‘I’m good, I’m good.’ Knowing [I wasn’t good.] I was in Columbia, about eight weeks out, seven weeks out, getting stem cells on the broken bone. Again, the bone healed fine. Not an excuse.”
“It just kind of weighs in the back of your head. I was training with that Reinier de Ridder guy, this submission guy, and he hit me with a whizzer,” Strickland continued. “[My bone] was already broken. And dude, I thought my arm f—king snapped, and I thought I gotta go to Columbia, like this is f—ked, but all camp, this is just in the back of your head. And like, you just keep telling yourself, I’m f—king good, and I think this is what all men do.”
“Whether it be, you know, the staph infection, the broken arm, having to get a visa approved a week out and being unable to get cornerman out there. This entire camp was like a struggle of, ‘I’m not good,’ but I look in the mirror and say, sack up.”
“I’m taking nothing away from Dricus,” Strickland concluded. “He came there, fought his ass off, f—king broke my nose. Like, dude, f—king, hell yeah. Man, like, hats off. You felt like a f—king man.”
Maybe, given the list of things he had to overcome, the fighters and even his coach can give him a break.
A doctor has expressed his anger after viewing Netflix’s new six-part series, Apple Cider Vinegar.
The show stars Kaitlyn Dever in the lead role and tells the tale of ex-wellness influencer Belle Gibson, who falsely claimed to have cured a Stage 4 brain tumour through a healthy diet and lifestyle.
The Australian social media mogul gained a large following and created a successful app called The Whole Pantry, along with a cookbook detailing her supposed health struggles and recipes. She was praised globally for her approach and even claimed to have donated substantial amounts of her earnings and company profits to various charities.
However, it was later revealed that she had never had cancer in the first place and her claims were false. Journalists exposed the truth in 2015 – Belle’s empire was built on deceit.
She was convicted of misleading the public into believing natural remedies could cure terminal cancer by the Federal Court of Australia in 2017. Netflix’s new series, based on the true crime book, The Woman Who Fooled the World by journalists Beau Donelly and Nick Toscano, tells the story of Belle’s rise and fall.
It also details stories of cancer patients who were inspired by her claims, as well as another wellness influencer – inspired by the real story of Jessica Ainscough – who tragically believed her own cancer could be cured through diet and alternative medicine, with a tragic outcome.
Each episode of the series begins with a different character breaking the fourth wall to tell viewers Belle Gibson was not compensated for the retelling of her story. Some characters’ names were altered, and others were invented for artistic reasons.
After watching the show, a doctor took to TikTok to express his views, and he didn’t mince words. Dr Michael, who has nearly 500K followers and prides himself on “debunking bad medical advice”, said: “If this [show] doesn’t make you realise the wellness industry is a complete scam, then nothing will convince you. And, oh my god, this was so triggering to watch as a medical professional.
“I used to work in a cancer hospital myself and I regularly do palliative care on patients with cancer in the hospital I work in, and this made me so angry and so sad at the same time because, ultimately, it’s up to doctors and nurses to deal with this stuff once the s*** hits the fan – and it usually does.”
He warned “don’t be fooled by anybody” and noted the financial value of the wellness industry. The Global Wellness Institute reports the industry has reached “a new peak of $6.3 trillion and is forecast to hit $9 trillion by 2028”.
Dr Michael stressed “food is not medicine” and expressed his concern about individuals like Belle who, he believes, exploit an extremely vulnerable audience. He pointed out many cancer patients are “so desperate to look for anything” that might extend their lives.
Dr Michael stated: “If there was a natural method to cure cancer, Big Pharma would be all over it already, hate to tell you.”
He explained the dangers of following advice from “someone like this” – in Belle’s case, a convicted fraudster – as it often leads to delays in medical treatment and intervention, sometimes “by just a few months”, which can have devastating consequences. He said: “I’ve seen people refuse conventional treatment for six months, and then come back when the alternative stuff hasn’t worked and by that time, it’s spread into the lymph nodes, it’s spread into lungs, it’s spread into the liver, it’s spread to the brain, and we literally cannot do anything.”
He added: “I’m not saying, ‘don’t use alternative treatments on top of conventional medicine’, I’ve always said that wellness influencers online are purely there to make money.”
He warned against falling for potential products a wellness influencer may try to sell – such as supplements, a book, and more.
If you suspect you have cancer symptoms, you should see a GP as soon as you can. More information about the symptoms of cancer can be found on the Cancer Research website.
Travel insurance is one of those things you hope you’ll never need—but when you do, it can save you from a financial nightmare. Whether it’s flight delays, baggage delays, trip cancellation or interruption, or even medical emergencies abroad, having the right credit card coverage can make all the difference.
However, a common belief is that credit card travel insurance only applies if you pay for the trip in full using that card. But what if you’re using points and miles? Do you still get coverage on an award ticket?
The short answer: it depends on the card and the type of insurance. Some benefits like emergency medical coverage apply automatically, while others require you to charge at least part of the trip to your card.
Let’s take a closer look at credit cards that offer insurance for award travel.
Emergency Medical Insurance: Just By Being a Cardholder
One of the biggest perks of premium travel credit cards is emergency medical insurance. The good news? You don’t have to pay for your trip with the card for this coverage to apply.
Most credit cards that offer emergency medical insurance cover you simply by being an active cardholder and travelling outside your province or territory of residence. The coverage typically applies for trips up to a set number of days—usually 15–25 days for those under65, and significantly fewer for older travellers.
For example, the Amex Platinum Card’s insurance pamphlet states that it provides emergency medical coverage for trips up to 15 days if under 65.
The RBC Avion Visa Infinite’s pamphlet says that it covers cardholders for 15 days for if under 65, and three days if 65 or older.
As you can see, travelling outside of your province or territory of residence is all that’s required for the emergency medical insurance to kick in, and there’s no requirement for the trip’s costs to be charged to the card itself.
This means that no matter how you booked your travel—whether you paid cash, used Aeroplan points, or stitched together a multi-airline trip using various rewards—you’re still covered for medical emergencies, as long as you keep one of these premium travel credit card open.
You’ll be covered for emergency travel insurance just by being a cardholder with a number of credit cards
That said, make sure you carefully read the insurance pamphlet on your credit card, since there are always certain exclusions to which the medical coverage wouldn’t apply. Most often, preexisting medical conditions or undertaking risky activities will void the coverage.
Moreover, note that the coverage typically only lasts for a certain number of days on your trip, so you may still need to purchase additional insurance if you’re travelling for a longer duration. You can do this by topping-up your credit card coverage or purchasing a policy from a separate provider.
Other Types of Travel Insurance: Use the Right Credit Card
Now, while most premium credit cards provide travel medical insurance to their cardholders regardless of whether the trip was billed to the card, the same generosity is usually not extended to other types of insurance.
To be eligible for coverage for flight delays, baggage delays, trip cancellation & interruption, or travel accident insurance, you’ll most likely need to have booked the trip and paid at least 75% of the portion with the credit card. This can be an issue for anyone who primarily travels on award tickets, as a flight that’s paid for with miles can’t really be charged “in full” to any card at all.
Thankfully, that’s where a few select credit cards on the market can fill the gap.
For example, here’s what the TD Aeroplan Visa Infinite Card’s insurance package has to say about ticket eligibility for flight delay, delayed and lost baggage, trip cancellation and trip interruption, and common carrier accidents:
As you can see, the insurance benefits on these cards will apply no matter whether you charged the full fare to the card, redeemed Aeroplan points for the ticket and charged the taxes and fees to your credit card, or redeemed a hybrid amount of Aeroplan points and cash using the Points + Cash feature.
Therefore, whether you’re redeeming Aeroplan points for a quick one-way flight or a complex trip and you want to enjoy the full insurance protection of a premium travel credit card on your trip, then it’s best to put the taxes and fees onto one of Amex, TD, or CIBC’s Aeroplan-affiliated cards.
And if you regularly travel on Aeroplan points, you might find it worthwhile to continuously keep one of these cards open for the purpose of giving yourself some peace of mind along your points-funded trips.
Credit Cards with Other Loyalty Programs
Most Canadian credit cards that have a loyalty program associated with them will typically extend their insurance benefits to travel booked through that specific points program as well. A few examples are as follows:
Therefore, whenever you’re looking to redeem one of the major Canadian points currencies for a flight, you’ll usually be able to take advantage of the insurance perks on whatever credit card is associated with that points program (which is probably the card that you had used to earn the points to begin with).
And if that plan doesn’t work out for some reason, you can always charge the remaining balance to another card as a fallback option…
The insurance coverage for the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® doesn’t mandate that the full cost of the trip be charged to the card, but rather only requires that a “portion or the entire cost of the trip” is charged to be sufficient for coverage.
This means that whenever you’re redeeming any type of rewards currencies for a flight, be it with Aeroplan points, Cathay Pacific Asia Miles, Alaska miles, Air France/KLM Flying Blue miles, or Ethiopian Airlines ShebaMiles, you’ll be eligible for insurance coverage with the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard®, since you’re fulfilling the criterion of “partial cost” in doing so.
This card’s far-reaching insurance proposition is one of the reasons why you might wish to pick it up and/or hold onto it in the long term.
Consider adding a National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® to your wallet for insurance on reward bookings
Conclusion
If you primarily travel on points, you don’t have to sacrifice insurance protection—you just need the right credit card.
Emergency medical insurance is generally active as long as you’re traveling out-of-province and your card account is in good standing. Meanwhile, using a co-branded credit card through TD, CIBC, American Express, or RBC can usually take care of the remaining types of coverage.
For those who want the ultimate peace of mind, the National Bank® World Elite® Mastercard® stands out as the best choice, offering insurance protection on any award booking, regardless of the loyalty program used.
Whether you’re a seasoned points collector or just getting started, making sure you have the right credit card in your wallet can help ensure your travels go smoothly, even when the unexpected happens.
JPMorgan has begun laying off what is expected to be fewer than 1,000 employees, according to a report by Barron’s.
The outlet notes that this round of layoffs affected “several” Houston offices and some now-former employees were notified on February 5. However, this isn’t the end.
JPMorgan is set to announce job cuts in mid-March, May, June, August, and September, though Barron’s states it is not clear how many roles will be impacted by the planned layoffs throughout the year.
“We regularly review our business needs and adjust our staffing accordingly—creating new roles where we see the need or reducing positions when appropriate,” a spokesperson said in a statement to Barron’s.
A source also confirmed the news to Reuters on Wednesday. A spokesperson told the outlet the layoffs are due to “regular management of the business” and noted the high number of roles open at the bank (around 14,000).
“We continue to hire in many areas and work hard to redeploy impacted employees,” the spokesperson told Reuters.
MSNBC named Rebecca Kutler as president of the left-leaning network, removing her interim tag following last month’s exit of Rashida Jones, the company said Wednesday.
One of Kutler’s biggest challenges will be building out MSNBC’s news-gathering capabilities since it will no longer be a sister entity to NBC News once the spin off is completed.
Rebecca Kutler was named president of MSNBC on Wednesday. MSNBC
Mark Lazarus, who is helming the new company called SpinCo, praised Kutler in a memo to employees Wednesday:
“Since joining the network, Rebecca has played a pivotal role in the development of many of the network’s recent program launches, has been a driving force behind MSNBC’s nonlinear growth and strategic investments, and has introduced new and innovative audience-focused products,” he wrote.
Kutler joined MSNBC in 2022 after a 12-year stint at CNN during the Jeff Zucker era, where she rose from executive producer on shows like “Inside Politics with John King” to senior vice president.
She was tapped as programming chief of CNN+ before the network pulled the plug on the streaming service in 2022.
Rashida Jones stepped down as president of MSNBC last month, after a three-year run running the left-leaning network. Getty Images for Alliance for Women in Media
“My goal over the years ahead is to build on that success. Especially over the next year, this is going to be a really exciting time but also a challenging time. I think it’s important that we as leaders are honest about that and about the challenges ahead. Our jobs are hard on a normal day, and these are not normal times,” Ketner told staffers Wednesday, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio has a historic opportunity at this week’s Munich Security Conference to define what an “America First” foreign policy means for Europe in President Trump’s second term.
If he builds on four key themes from his Senate confirmation testimony last month, he can offer both clarity and reassurance to allies wary of Trump 2.0.
Many European leaders fear that America seeks to withdraw from the world.
In Munich, Rubio can calm their nerves — and make clear that the new era of American diplomacy is one of strength, not retreat.
The setting for Rubio’s first major European speech is as symbolic as it is strategic. The annual conference in Munich draws top officials and policymakers from across the globe.
This idyllic German city is also a frequent stage for making history, for better or worse.
It was in Munich where Neville Chamberlain met Hitler, only to fail disastrously in his quest for peace.
It was also in Munich where, in 2007, Vladimir Putin claimed Russia posed no threat to European peace — before launching invasions of Georgia and Ukraine.
For Rubio’s visit, the task must be to set the record straight on “America First.”
First, he should draw a sharp contrast between past complacency and the present moment.
In his inaugural address, Trump framed American leadership as a stark choice: between presiding over Western decline or restoring its strength.
“From this moment on, America’s decline is over,” he declared.
But as Trump has identified the problem, adversaries are manipulating the mechanisms of the old post-World War II “order” to advance their interests at the expense of America’s own.
At his confirmation hearing, Rubio put it bluntly: “The postwar global order is not just obsolete; it is now a weapon being used against us.”
Second, Rubio should articulate an uncomfortable fact the Europeans already recognize: The postwar order failed to maintain peace in their region — and elsewhere.
America suffers for it, but so does Europe. For example, Moscow and Beijing exploit their permanent seats on the UN Security Council to block penalties on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, shield Iran, and undermine international stability by “dismembering” sanctions on North Korea.
Instead of tranquility and predictability around the world, America and its allies face the opposite.
Third, the secretary must make it clear that neither Europeans nor Americans seek endless wars around the world.
But avoiding war and establishing peace in countries like Ukraine requires strength and resolve, not wishful thinking.
Get opinions and commentary from our columnists
Subscribe to our daily Post Opinion newsletter!
Thanks for signing up!
Plainly stating America’s goals for post-war Ukraine — that it must remain sovereign and independent — will be essential for Rubio’s mission to Munich.
He should also address the bigger problem: That Russia and Iran, backed by China, will continue to seed global instability if nothing changes.
Trump has been clear and consistent in stating that peace, in particular American deterrence, comes through strength. Weak nations invite threats; strong ones prevent them.
That means NATO allies must strengthen their defenses.
Rubio can point to decades of European under-spending on defense. These investments should not be primarily America’s burden to bear, in Europe and elsewhere.
Fourth, Rubio can use his platform in Munich to directly challenge to Europe: Answer America’s resolve, not with cynicism but action.
Trump has called for NATO allies to raise their defense spending to 5% of GDP. Should European leaders balk at the increase, Rubio can remind them that Poland — NATO’s largest eastern ally — is already set to hit 4.7% this year.
The question is not whether a 5% expenditure is possible, but whether Europe is serious about defending itself.
Nations willing to shoulder their share will distinguish themselves as true allies in security; those that refuse will be complicit in their own vulnerability.
Finally, Rubio’s greatest asset in Munich will be his constant optimism — his belief that America, despite its challenges, remains the indispensable force for order in a chaotic world.
His Senate track record proves that Rubio has never confused idealism with naivety, nor has he mistaken hope for a strategy.
Rather, as he told the Senate committee during his confirmation hearing, current global conditions require a change: “We are called to create a free world out of chaos once again,” he declared.
In Munich, Rubio must make clear that America is ready to do just that — and Europe must be ready to assist us.
Peter Doran is an adjunct senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies.
Roger Goodell is always looking for a new way to shake up the status quo.
That doesn’t mean making changes for the sake of making changes, but the NFL commissioner encourages alterations that push the envelope. Sometimes they work, sometimes they don’t.
Put the draft in prime time, and move it from city to city…
Allow choreographed touchdown/turnover celebrations, speed up pace of play, move back PAT kicks…
Shrink the preseason and expand the regular season…
Change kickoffs, dramatically expand the international schedule, play games on Black Friday, Christmas Day and the first Friday of the season…
Goodell’s philosophy is that success inhibits innovation. He doesn’t want to hear, “This is how we’ve always done it,” or, “What did we do on that day last season? Let’s do it again.”
So, on the heels of Philadelphia’s Super Bowl victory, and as the league heads into another offseason, it’s safe to say more changes are afoot, even if they have yet to fully take shape.
First, the changes that are built into the game, the reshuffling of rosters. Among the star players who almost certainly will be changing teams are All-Pro receiver Cooper Kupp — the Rams have been looking for a trade partner — defensive end Myles Garrett of the Cleveland Browns, and quarterbacks Aaron Rodgers of the New York Jets, Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings and Kirk Cousins of the Atlanta Falcons.
What other changes could be in store?
The Pittsburgh Steelers will play host to a game in Dublin, which is fitting considering the late Dan Rooney, the longtime team president and owner, was a former U.S. ambassador to Ireland.
The Indianapolis Colts will play in Berlin and the Miami Dolphins are headed to Madrid. Expected to be announced is a second consecutive game in Sao Paulo, likely another Friday game after the Thursday Kickoff Opener.
Saquon Barkley and the Eagles opened their season last fall with a victory over the Packers in Brazil.
(Fernando Llano / Associated Press)
The Eagles were the home team for an opener in Sao Paulo last fall, and look how their season finished. And remember the 2007 New York Giants, the ones who stunned the then-undefeated New England Patriots in the Super Bowl? They played a London game that season.
International games are no longer viewed as exotic or disruptive. The NFL ultimately could wind up playing a full slate of 17 games beyond the U.S. borders, a globe-trotting barnstorming tour possibly instead of a fixed international franchise. We already know the Rams will be playing a 2026 game in Melbourne almost certainly as a season opener.
Another Mexico City game is in the works, but there are stadium issues that need to be resolved.
It used to be that the NFL would never have teams play multiple short weeks in a season — a club playing a Monday game followed by a Sunday game, more than once per year. Now, it happens all the time. Watch for one or more teams to play three games in 11 days — Monday, Sunday then Thursday.
The Baltimore Ravens played three games in 11 days last season — Sunday, Saturday, Wednesday — and went 3-0.
In terms of scheduling, remember that now every game is a “free agent,” meaning the visiting team doesn’t determine the network, as it did forever in the NFL.
For instance, think back to those years when Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning was the “best” game of the regular season. That alternated back and forth between CBS and NBC. Now many people consider that game to be Patrick Mahomes vs. Josh Allen. It’s eligible for Fox, too. The NFL also has put some big games on ESPN and it’s continuing to grow Amazon Prime as an showcase as well, so don’t be shocked if one of those huge games winds up on a streaming platform.
The NFL won’t be going to an 18-game schedule in 2025. That will require a lot of negotiations between the league and the NFL Players Assn., but the concept will percolate throughout the season as will a further reduction of the preseason, probably landing on 18 regular-season games and two weeks of preseason games.
Officiating was under particular scrutiny this season, with a widely pervasive feeling that the Kansas City Chiefs, who won every close game in 2024, seemed to get all the breaks from the team in stripes. Watch for the league to expand the list of reviewable plays, possibly to include facemask calls or non-calls.
“This game has gotten so much faster,” Goodell said in his annual Super Bowl news conference. “You’re seeing so much that you didn’t even six years ago. I challenge all of you — go back and look at an NFL game from 2000 — the quality of what you see, the cameras, the angles, the number of cameras, you see an awful lot more.
“So we want to use technology to supplement and to assist and support the officials getting it right. Replay assists this year, I think, was a big step forward for us. I see in the future us adding more plays, and we’ll look at that with the competition committee.”
The new kickoff format was adopted on a one-year basis, and the likelihood is that will be made permanent this spring. There could be some tweaks, though, such as moving touchbacks from the 30-yard line to the 35.
The league liked the numbers it saw out of the so-called dynamic kickoffs, including returns increasing 57% from 2023. Even with 332 plays added back into the game, the league said, there were fewer injuries on kickoffs than incurred the previous season with the traditional format.
Look for the league to make permanent the concept of flexing games into the Thursday Night Football window. The NFL did that once in two years — Denver at the Chargers in Week 16 last season — and was happy with the results. The process wasn’t as disruptive as many people had feared. Still, those types of scheduling adjustments figure to be rare.
NFL games on Christmas Day, streamed on Netflix, were a big hit last season. Watch for the league to do that again, as Christmas falls on a Thursday, and to expand the Dec. 25 schedule from two games to three, matching Thanksgiving Day.
Green Bay will play host to the draft this year, a major event for that city, which doesn’t have the hotels (or weather) to play host to a Super Bowl. Some of Lambeau Field will be used for the draft, as will the surrounding tailgating areas.
The following year, the draft will be in Pittsburgh, another historic NFL city that’s unlikely to get a Super Bowl but that the league feels is deserving of a major event.
The ex-Mets, who has loads of off-the-field issues, is slated to fight ex-Braves pitcher John Rocker in some sort of boxing match at Barstool’s next “Rough N’ Rowdy” event on April 19.
It appears in a video circulating on social media that Rocker saw Mahomes Sr. and tried to shake his hand before Mahomes Sr. ripped his hand away and the two had to be separated.
“This f–king loser can’t take a damn joke,” Rocker posted on X after the scuffle. “Wish I laid him out right there and ruined his bulls–t weekend even more.”
Well, now he gets his chance, according to Portnoy.
Pat Mahomes Sr. and John Rocker got into it in New Orleans. X/@TrindonHo11idayPatrick Mahomes Sr. has had a checkered history with the law in recent years. Getty Images
“Breaking news, I’m not sure if you saw this little beef on Bourbon Street this past weekend, John Rocker and Pat Mahomes Sr. going at it. I guess they hated each other since their playing days, baseball. I guess not surprising everyone has beef with John Rocker. But they signed the f–king paperwork. Guess what we got boys and girls: Rough N’ Rowdy, April 19th, Wheeling, West Virginia. Bad Friday,” Portnoy said on X.
“I know Patty Mahomes the Super Bowl guy, the guy who just got his doors blown off said he hated Barstool. Well, now your dad’s fighting in our company against John Rocker. I’ll save a seat, free of charge. Patty Mahomes and crew, no bad blood we can make up and watch your dad fight. That’s an open invite. You said you don’t like us, I get your dad to fight Rough N’ Rowdy.”
“I don’t know if you’ve seen the news, but ‘Bussin’ With the Boys’ is leaving Barstool Sports,” Lewan said to the Chiefs quarterback during Super Bowl Opening Night. “Is it safe to say they could see you as a guest in this upcoming offseason?”
“It definitely improved y’all’s chances for sure,” Mahomes replied. “We’ll have to make that happen now.”
Patrick Mahomes Sr. and his son pose after a playoff win in 2024. Getty Images
It appears Portnoy took that personally and is ready to attempt to publicly embarrass the star quarterback further after he lost the Super Bowl to the Eagles.
Rocker will have an obscene size advantage if this fight takes place, as he stands a solid 6-foot-4 while Mahomes is a slender 6-foot-1.
Pat Mahomes Sr. and John Rocker got into it in New Orleans. X/@TrindonHo11iday
Rocker and Mahomes were on opposite sides of the heated Mets-Braves rivalry during the 1999 and 2000 seasons, which saw Atlanta defeat the Amazin’s in the 1999 NLCS.
Mahomes and the Mets reach the World Series in 2000.
Rocker became infamous in New York after his offensive rant in a 1999 Sports Illustrated article where he said he disliked going to the city because it featured a large immigrant population and minorities, among other things.
Shopify (NYSE: SHOP) reported its fourth-quarter earnings yesterday (11 February). As is often the case, the e-commerce enabler’s numbers were mightily impressive, sending the growth stock up 3.1%.
This brings Shopify’s five-year return to 133%!
The flywheel keeps spinning
Shopify was founded to foster entrepreneurship by helping merchants build an online store and succeed. As the company does this, it also grows, fuelled by the success it enables (the flywheel effect).
Shopify now has over 12% share of the giant US e-commerce market — second only to Amazon! And it continues to expand rapidly in Europe and Japan, with international growth exceeding 30% for the second consecutive year in 2024.
In Q4, revenue accelerated 31% year on year to $2.81bn, marking the seventh consecutive quarter of 25%+ growth (when excluding the logistics business it sold in 2023). That beat Wall Street’s expectations for $2.73bn.
Full-year revenue jumped 26% to $8.9bn, with more than 875m unique shoppers purchasing something from Shopify merchants (an incredible one in every six internet users). Meanwhile, the free cash flow (FCF) margin expanded each quarter, finishing the year at 18%, up from 13% in 2023.
A final positive thing to note here was gross merchandise volume (GMV), which rose 24% last year to just under $300bn. That was 2.4 times higher than the pandemic-fuelled online shopping boom of 2020.
As a reminder, GMV represents the total value of all transactions processed through the company’s platform. And since being founded in 2006, it has now passed the $1trn mark in cumulative GMV!
All this tells us that Shopify’s growth engine is still purring, unlike many other e-commerce firms whose growth has slowed markedly after Covid (Etsy, for example, or eBay).
Harley Finkelstein, president of Shopify, commented: “With our proven track record, the agility of our platform, and our relentless focus on merchant success, we like our odds in this evolving technology landscape, and are excited about the opportunities it brings for Shopify and our merchants.”
Investing in AI
The company has been investing heavily in artificial intelligence (AI) products. It has created Shopify Magic, which is a suite of generative AI features that help merchants create product descriptions and transform product image backgrounds.
Additionally, it has launched Sidekick, an AI assistant that provides tailored advice and step-by-step guidance to help merchants optimise their businesses.
As a shareholder, I’m fully supportive of this relentless tech innovation. The AI features are attracting more merchants, solidifying Shopify’s position as the go-to platform for running an online store.
However, it looks like these investments will weigh on margins in the near term. Guidance for the current Q1 is for strong revenue growth (around 25%), but for the FCF margin to fall to mid-teens.
No rush
It’s hard not to be bullish long term, but this rosy outlook is reflected in the stock’s valuation.
Based on 2025 forecasts, it’s trading at around 14.6 times sales. This means the company will need to keep growing above 20% for some time to justify this premium valuation. If growth slows, the stock could pull back sharply.
Given the high valuation then, investors might want to consider building out a position on dips over time. There’s no rush to go all-in. After all, as Shopify says: “We’re building a 100-year company.”
A US judge has ruled in favor of Thomson Reuters in a AI training fight against Ross Intelligence, a legal AI startup, according to The Verge. Thomson Reuters sued Ross Intelligence in 2020 for using the company’s legal research platform Westlaw to train Ross Intelligence’s AI without permission. Westlaw indexes large amounts of non-copyrighted material, but mixes it with its own content.
Ross Intelligence argued that the training should be classified under “fair use” practices, but the judge disagreed. Instead, the court held that Ross Intelligence’s use of the copyrighted material affected its original value because the company intended to develop a direct competitor.
The ruling is significant because it could have implications for future cases where copyrighted material is used for AI training. One wrinkle: this particular case concerned non-generative AI, which is not the same as generative AI used in large language models to create new material based on previous training data.
