WAAAX stocks collapse as the ASX crashes as much as 200 points
As market volatility spikes, and panic around the Coronavirus grows, tech stocks across the globe have been sold-down heavily over the last week.
WAAAX off
The tech-focused NASDAQ – which tracks some of the world’s largest and most profitable tech companies – fell off a cliff overnight: dropping over 400 points or -4.61%.
Individually, the world’s premier tech companies were brutally sold-off in step: Facebook dropped 3.78%, Apple collapsed 6.54%, Amazon crashed 4.81%, Alphabet (Google) fell 5.39% and Microsoft was the worst hit: plunging 7.05%.
The pain isn't likely to end there; US Futures are pointing towards further declines for tech investors during the upcoming trading session.
Unsurprisingly then, when the ASX opened today, Australia’s most prominent tech stocks – collectively referred to as the WAAAX stocks – were sold off just as aggressively as their US counterparts.
The ASX 200 itself fell over 200 points in the first hour of trade.
With this volatile price action in mind, below we examine the performance from each of the WAAAX stocks over the last five trading sessions.
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Wisetech share price -19%
Swept up amongst disappointing FY20 earnings guidance, a lingering short attack, and now the Coronavirus crisis, the WiseTech (ASX: WTC) share price has continued its downward trajectory today – dropping as much as 11.46% – to a low of $14.99 per share (and -12% in the last five days).
Overall, WiseTech (ASX: WTC) has proven to be the worst performing WAAAX stock in the short-term, having now seen its share price more than halve from its 2019 peak.
Afterpay share price -12%
Buy now pay later stocks were some of the worst hit on the ASX today, as Afterpay (ASX: APT) saw its share price fall as much as 9.45% – to a low of $32.74 per share.
This comes after the tech darling reported a good set of interim results yesterday: notching up $4.8 billion in underlying sales (+109%), total income of $220 million (+96%) and seeing its active customers and merchants reach 7.3 million and 43.2 thousand, respectively.
Altium share price -7%
Altium has proven the most resilient of the WAAAX cohort in the last five trading sessions, dropping just 7% in that period.
Like many of the other WAAAX stocks, Altium reported its interim results to the market in the last two weeks: recording H1 revenues of US$92 million against earnings (EBITDA) of US$36.8 million.
The company also announced a 20 cent interim dividend as part of its half-year results.
Appen share price -14%
Appen was one of the few stocks that saw its share price surge this week: rising ~6% after the company reported a growthy set FY19 figures. Here, the AI-focused tech company reported that its full-year FY19 revenues reached $536.0 million (+47%); while underlying earnings (NPAT) came in at $64.7 million (+32%).
This share price surge proved short-lived however, APX fell 10% on Wednesday and then 3% on Thursday. The stock continued to trade in the red today.
Xero share price -12%
Though Xero (ASX: XRO) isn’t set to release its next round of financial results until May, the cloud-based accounting software company couldn't avoid the market-wide panic selling it would seem, with its share price falling more than 14% since 19 February.
Analysts currently favour the stock mind you: as it stands, Xero has eight Buy ratings, four Hold ratings and four Sell ratings, according to Bloomberg Data.
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