Three tech stocks bucking the COVID-19 trend
While there has been much focus on the struggles of technology stocks such as WiseTech and Webjet, there are several others which are bucking this trend thanks to a focus on remote working.
Numerous businesses in Australia had opted to move their staff away from the office and work remotely instead to avoid the spread of the COVID-19 while others were being forced to work remotely as they may be in quarantine or self-isolation.
This had been good news for those firms which specialised in cloud-based systems.
NextDC had seen its share price rise 21% since the start of the year to 11 March, Vocus Group had returned 10.8% and ELMO Software had risen 8.4%, according to FE Analytics.
NextDC was one of the world’s largest datacentre operators with nine in Australia as well as disaster recovery solutions.
NextDC was held in the top 10 of seven funds including OC Premium Small Companies and CFS Wholesale Australian Small Companies.
ELMO Software is a cloud-based HR and payroll system used by more than 1,000 organisations across Asia Pacific.
Lastly, Vocus was a fibre and network solutions provider, with an over 30,000km fibre network, offering broadband and mobile services to consumers and businesses.
However, not all tech firms had been such a beneficiary as some such as WiseTech had been hindered by having their components manufactured in China. Others, like travel booking website Webjet, had fallen due to the effect on airline travel.
Shares in WiseTech, a provider of logistics, were down 42% and Webjet was down 46%.
Share price performance of NextDC, Vocus and ELMO Software since the start of 2020 to 11 March
AUTHOR
Laura Dew
Recommended for you
Lonsec and SQM Research have highlighted manager selection as a crucial risk for financial advisers when it comes to private market investments, particularly due to the clear performance dispersion.
Macquarie Asset Management has indicated its desire to commit the fast-growing wealth business in Australia by divesting part of its public investment business to Japanese investment bank Nomura.
Australia’s “sophisticated” financial services industry is a magnet for offshore fund managers, according to a global firm.
The latest Morningstar asset manager survey believes ETF providers are likely to retain the market share they have gained from active managers.
