Shopify surges after giving strong forecast despite tariffs

** Shopify's SHOP.O U.S. shares rallying nearly 20% on Wed after co forecast strong qtrly rev and reported resilient merchant demand despite tariff pressures

** Co's Toronto-listed shares SHOP.TO up 20% at C$210, lifting its market cap to C$272 bln (US$197 bln) and making it Canada's most valuable publicly listed co, exceeding Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO

** SHOP said no slowdown in U.S. consumer demand, with second-qtr rev up 31% and all merchant segments showing growth

** "We haven't seen any drops in U.S. demand, whether inbound, outbound or local. In fact, the U.S. accelerated in the second-quarter," per CFO Jeff Hoffmeister

** SHOP expects current-qtr rev to rise mid- to high-twenties pct, topping analyst est of 21.5% growth

** YTD, SHOP U.S.-listed shares up about 42%, outperforming Nasdaq .IXIC which is up 9%