Earnings season can be a turbulent period on Wall Street. Some companies impress investors enough to see their shares soar, while others receive a much less enthusiastic -- and sometimes even a downright catastrophic -- response from the market.

E-commerce specialist (NYSE: SHOP) was in the latter group during the most recent earnings season, and as of this writing, the stock is down by 24% year to date. However, that's nothing for long-term investors to worry about; the company remains a solid long-term pick. Let's find out why.

Shopify's first-quarter earnings looked decent on the surface. The company's revenue of $1.9 billion was up 23% year over year, the same growth rate as its gross merchandise volume, which came in at $60.9 billion for the period. Shopify's gross margin landed at 51.4%, up from the 47.5% reported in the year-ago period. However, Shopify wasn't profitable. It reported a net loss per share of $0.21, compared to a net income of $0.05 in the year-ago period.

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Source Fool.com