Feb 11 (Reuters) - Shopify ( SHOP ) topped market

estimates for sales in the holiday quarter on Tuesday, on the

back of healthy consumer spending and the company rolling out AI

features that have attracted more sellers to its e-commerce

platform.

U.S.-listed shares of the company fell 9% in

premarket trading. Shopify ( SHOP ) expects its revenue to grow at a

mid-twenties percentage rate in the current quarter, while

analysts expect a rise of 24.4% from a year earlier to $2.31

billion according to data from LSEG.

The company also expects operating expense as a percentage

of revenue to be 41% to 42% in the first quarter, compared with

31.5% in the holiday quarter.

Shopify ( SHOP ) has invested in building out artificial

intelligence-based tools and features across its services that

help sellers on its platform with tasks ranging from image

generation and inventory management to gathering customer and

sales data.

The company also benefited from strong online sales over the

holiday season, with U.S. online spending rising nearly 9%

between November and December, according to data from Adobe

Analytics.

The Canadian company reported revenue of $2.81 billion for

the fourth quarter ended December 31, compared with analysts'

average estimate of $2.73 billion according to data compiled by

LSEG.