With the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) racing significantly higher this quarter, it will come as no surprise to learn that a number of shares have climbed strongly with the market.
Two popular ASX 200 shares that have climbed so strongly they have just hit record highs are listed below. Here's why they are flying high right now:
Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES)
The Wesfarmers share price climbed to a record high of $50.09 on Tuesday. Investors have been buying the conglomerate's shares this year thanks to its strong performance during the pandemic. Pleasingly, this strong performance has continued in FY 2021, with Wesfarmers recently releasing an impressive trading update.
This has particularly been the case for its key Bunnings business. According to its update, the hardware retailer achieved sales growth of 25.2% for the first four months of FY 2021. Management notes that its strong sales growth was driven partly by customers spending more time undertaking projects around the home.
But it wasn't just Bunnings growing quickly. Wesfarmers revealed a 23.4% increase in Officeworks sales and a 114.4% jump in Catch sales.
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
The Xero share price continued its remarkable run and hit a record high of $136.94 yesterday. The cloud-based business and accounting platform provider's shares have been on fire this year thanks to its strong performance despite the tough operating environment.
For example, earlier this month Xero released its half year results and revealed impressive sales and profit growth. For the six months ended 30 September, the company delivered a 21% increase in operating revenue to NZ$409.8 million. This was driven by a 19% increase in total subscribers to 2.45 million. And on the bottom line, Xero's net profit after tax came in 26 times greater than the prior corresponding period at NZ$34.5 million.
While no guidance was given for the remainder of the year because of COVID uncertainties, management reiterated that Xero is a long-term oriented business with ambitions for high-growth.
