Deutsche Bank analysts shared their outlook on Shopify Inc. (NYSE:SHOP) ahead of the upcoming Q1 earnings announcement, expecting investors to be focused on the post-pandemic demand normalization that is common to many other companies that experienced COVID acceleration.

That said, the analysts anticipate Shopify Fulfillment Network (SFN) to once again be the main area of focus, given recent press reports, according to which the company is in talks to acquire Deliverr, an asset-light fulfillment operator, for around $2 billion.

The analysts expect (1) MRR and GMV in Q1 to come in closer to their below-Street estimates, based on their analysis of App usage data, historical seasonality, industry conversations, and tangential industry trends, and (2) potential downside to 2022 operating margins given changes to stock/cash comp and management's repeated commentary that the company anticipates reinvesting the entirety of gross profit into growth initiatives.