STOCK WATCH: Temple & Webster, MyDeal, Booktopia Lead Index

Last week, things were looking pretty dire on the ASX Listed E-Com Index, severely underperforming compared to the ASX200. Driven by gains from Temple & Webster, MyDeal and Booktopia, the last seven days on the the ASX are looking up. In the last week, the ASX200 dropped 1.6%, while the ASX Listed E-Com Index shed just 0.6%. This may be far from the massive with growth we’ve seen at many points during 2020 and 2021, but, given the severe underperformance of the E-Com Index over a 90 days period (-13.2% compared to the ASX200 at -1.4%), it’s something!

Top performer Temple & Webster closed at $11.38 on Monday, marking 8.5% growth over a seven day period. While its share price is down 12.6% compared to three months ago, its growth in the shorter term is a step in the right direction. MyDeal, in comparison, is up 21.7% over three months and, closing at $0.87 on Monday, is up 6.7% in the last week. Booktopia has been a steady performer over the last year. While it hasn’t necessarily shown signs of monumental growth since listing in late 2020, it also hasn’t been subject to the massive downward swings we’ve seen from others in e-com. The last few weeks however have been rocky, shedding 20.7% over 90 days. Like Temple & Webster, we’re seeing an upwards trajectory in short term performance, up 2.8% in the last week, opening at $2.22 on Tuesday. It’s far from the $2.99 we saw back in August, but hopefully a positive sign of things to come.

Source: Australian Listed E-Com Index based on ASX reporting

So, who’s bringing the Index down? At $3.89, Cettire has experienced an 11.8% slide, down from $4.76 last week. Over 90 days however, its share price is up a massive 82.6%, from $2.35 back in August. It may be a sign that the pureplay luxury clothing retailer is stabilising somewhat, finding a more comfortable middle ground.

Kogan has now dropped below $9 for the first time since May (after a period of inventory and warehousing concerns), now shedding 31.3% over 90 days. At $8.95 as at close of ASX on Monday, why are investors losing confidence in Kogan ahead of the Christmas and holiday period? At the same time last year, its share price was $16.38. While some level of volatility is to be expected in a post-pandemic world, this kind of swing is perhaps surprising. Adore Beauty is also down, though at $4.59 at close of ASX on Monday, this is only a 7.6% dip over 90 days (far from Kogan’s massive drop or Cettire’s massive growth in the same period). At $16.01 BikeExchange shed 15.8% over 90 days and is down 5.9% in the last week. Similarly, Redbubble is down 15.2% over 90 days and shed 4.5% in the last week, closing at $3.57 on Monday.

It seems that investor confidence is not industry specific, with performance across marketplaces for example, differing wildly.

Source: Australian Listed E-Com Index based on ASX reporting

While recent performance for some companies seems almost predictable, with loss in share price value usually the precursor to small gains (Temple & Webster and Adore, just by way of example), performance for other e-com players is not part of the pattern that we’ve grown accustomed to seeing on the ASX this year (Kogan and….Kogan, just by way of example). Will we see a recovery around the corner?

Figures are current as at close of ASX on 22 November 2021. This is analysis only and not intended as investment advice.

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