The pandemic has hit the economy hard this year and stifled the growth of a good number of companies.
However, not all companies are being held back by the crisis. In fact, some have continued their unstoppable growth this year and seen their share prices storm higher.
Here's why these two ASX shares have smashed the market in 2020:
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Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
The Afterpay share price is up an incredible 278% since the start of the year.
Investors have been buying the company's shares this year after the pandemic failed to derail its incredible growth.
Thanks to the ongoing popularity of the buy now pay later payment method, the shift to online shopping, its successful international expansion, and the growing frequency of use, Afterpay delivered further explosive growth in its underlying sales and customer numbers.
Pleasingly, this strong form has continued in FY 2021. It recorded underlying sales growth of 115% to $4.1 billion in the first quarter.
Also giving its shares a boost was Afterpay recently announcing its intention to launch savings accounts and other cash flow tools in partnership with Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC). This could open up new revenue streams in the future and support customer retention.
Kogan.com Ltd (ASX: KGN)
The Kogan share price has zoomed a massive 151% higher since the beginning of the year.
As with Afterpay, this ecommerce company has been a big winner during the pandemic. With most retail stores across the country closing to stop the spread of COVID-19, shoppers moved online in large numbers.
This led to Kogan delivering a very strong FY 2020 result in August and further impressive growth in the current financial year.
For example, during the month of August, the company reported gross sales growth of more than 117% and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 466%. This was driven by the addition of 152,000 new customers to its platform during the month, bringing its total to 2,461,000.
And while the company hasn't released an update since then, based on what its peers have reported, it appears as though this positive trend has continued and a stellar half year result awaits investors in February.
