Changes are happening - please bear with us while we update our site.

Changes are happening - please bear with us while we update our site. Click here to give us your advice and feedback.

Is it a wise time to buy WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC) shares?

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) has been one of the market's best performers in recent years. Is now a wise time to buy shares in the logistics software company?

WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC) has been one of the market’s best performers in recent years, with the share price up 770% from its April 2016 issue price of $3.35.

Source: Rask Media WTC share price chart since listing

WiseTech’s vision is to “create the operating system for global logistics”. The surge in WiseTech’s share price corresponds with the execution of its vision and growth strategy outlined in its prospectus: “to expand our CargoWise One global platform through innovation, increasing usage by existing customers, growing the number of customers using the platform, stimulating network effects, and accelerating our growth with strategic acquisitions”.

The numbers

WiseTech achieved FY15 revenue, EBITDA and NPAT of $79.6 million, $21.9 million and $10.4 million, respectively.

In FY20 these metrics, in turn, were $429.4 million, $126.7 million and $160.8 million.

In the course of five financial years’ revenue, WiseTech has delivered 439% growth in revenue, 479% growth in EBITDA and a 1,446% jump in NPAT. Well and truly meeting the definition of a growth share.

The FY20 NPAT figure is skewed as it includes a “nontaxed fair value gain of $111.0m from restructuring 22 acquisition earnout obligations and other adjustments”. WiseTech advised underlying NPAT for FY20 was $52.6 million, still a very handy 406% increase from FY15 NPAT.

Innovation

WiseTech invests a large portion of its revenue on driving product innovation, which it views as critical to future revenue growth. As at the end of FY20, WiseTech’s team had invested over 4.6 million development hours into building the CargoWise platform. That’s over 525 years!

In FY15, 38% of revenue was spent on research and development (R&D). In FY20, R&D spend was very comparable, with 37% of total revenue invested in R&D.

WiseTech reaffirmed in its 2020 annual report: “With our research and development investment we delivered over 1,100 product upgrades to our CargoWise platform in FY20, further improving the scalability, functionality, productivity and performance, and also building out more technology assets across our businesses utilising our 40 product development centres worldwide”.

Acquisitions & network effects

Acquisitions have played an integral role in WiseTech’s growth. In the 2020 annual report, WiseTech CEO and Founder Richard White said: “In recent years, we have completed over 40 acquisitions. These acquisitions have delivered significant knowledge and development resources to optimise and accelerate our technology pipeline and expand our geographic footprint”.

WiseTech completed five acquisitions in FY20, including firms based in South Korea, Switzerland and Poland.

Chairman Andrew Harrison said, “strategic acquisitions also contributed to our revenue growth, with revenue attributable to acquisitions up 29% in FY20 to $166.4m”.

Acquisitions have expanded the reach and functionality of WiseTech’s CargoWise platform, with 160 countries now licensed to use its software. Network effects are thereby supercharged as the platform becomes “even more compelling to local and global logistics providers and their customers”.

The value of the platform to its customers is reflected by its very low attrition rate (or churn) – currently under 1%. This means that over 99% of CargoWise customers stick around and, on balance, continue to increase their usage of the platform.

Founder led

Richard White founded the company in 1994 and continues to lead the company as the CEO. Although Richard recently sold some of his shareholdings, he remains WiseTech’s largest shareholder, owning about 43% of the company.

Richard has re-affirmed his commitment to WiseTech and his intention to remain a significant shareholder for the very long-term. So long as Richard is a substantial shareholder, he should remain deeply motivated to see the company grow alongside his fellow shareholders.

Wise time to buy?

Deciding whether to buy shares in this growth company today is not a simple one. WiseTech’s current market cap is $9.44 billion. Dividing by underlying FY20 NPAT of $52.6 million, the company trades on an astronomical price/earnings ratio of 179.

To buy in now you must have extraordinary faith that growth can persist at very high rates for a very long time. WiseTech says the global logistics and supply chain market is worth $13 trillion. If only a few percent is spent on software, it is easy to be excited about WiseTech’s potential for growth.

What if everything fell into place and WiseTech somehow managed to replicate its NPAT growth from the past 5 years in the future? Underling FY20 NPAT would increase 400%, leading to FY25 NPAT of $263 million.

WiseTech, therefore, trades on a theoretical FY25 P/E of just under 36. This seems very expensive against other ASX growth shares such as A2 Milk Company Ltd (ASX: A2M), which trades on a current P/E of 29.9. All things considered, I am excited by WiseTech’s growth prospects, just not the current share price.

$50,000 per year in passive income from shares? Yes, please!

With interest rates UP, now could be one of the best times to start earning passive income from a portfolio. Imagine earning 4%, 5% — or more — in dividend passive income from the best shares, LICs, or ETFs… it’s like magic.

So how do the best investors do it?

Chief Investment Officer Owen Rask has just released his brand new passive income report. Owen has outlined 10 of his favourite ETFs and shares to watch, his rules for passive income investing, why he would buy ETFs before LICs and more.

You can INSTANTLY access Owen’s report for FREE by CLICKING HERE NOW and creating a 100% FREE Rask Account.

(Psst. By creating a free Rask account, you’ll also get access to 15+ online courses, 1,000+ podcasts, invites to events, a weekly value investing newsletter and more!)

Unsubscribe anytime. Read our TermsFinancial Services GuidePrivacy Policy. We’ll never sell your email address. Our company is Australian owned.

Information warning: The information on this website is published by The Rask Group Pty Ltd (ABN: 36 622 810 995) is limited to factual information or (at most) general financial advice only. That means, the information and advice does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not specific to you, your needs, goals or objectives. Because of that, you should consider if the advice is appropriate to you and your needs, before acting on the information. If you don’t know what your needs are, you should consult a trusted and licensed financial adviser who can provide you with personal financial product advice. In addition, you should obtain and read the product disclosure statement (PDS) before making a decision to acquire a financial product. Please read our Terms and Conditions and Financial Services Guide before using this website. The Rask Group Pty Ltd is a Corporate Authorised Representative (#1280930) of AFSL #383169.

At the time of publishing, the author of this article does not have a financial or commercial interest in any of the companies mentioned.
Skip to content