Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) will be removed from the S&P ASX All Technology Index (ASX: XTX) on 22 March.
This means that a business with a $2.1 billion market capitalisation will be missing from the most prominent index of Australian technology companies.
Webjet has been a success story in the local tech scene. The online travel agency was founded in 1998 then reverse listed on the ASX two years later.
The Webjet share price hovered around the 10 cent mark in mid-2005. But it spiked up to about $3.50 by 2013 as Australians started abandoning physical travel agents and embraced the lower prices from online merchants.
As that trend continued in the 2010s, Webjet's valuation kept growing. The share price well surpassed the $12 mark in both 2018 and 2019, and the company now commands 50% of the online travel agency flights market in Australia and New Zealand.
But of course, COVID-19 brought the entire travel industry to a standstill last year.
Webjet shares suffered a low of $2.25 during the 2020 market crash but have since recovered nicely to trade at $6.18 by close of trade Wednesday.
Goldman Sachs on Wednesday put a "buy" rating on the stock and slapped a price target of $7.36 on it, which is a 19% premium to the current cost.
So why is it getting kicked out of the All Tech index?
Image source: Getty Images
The reason Webjet was removed from the All Tech index
A spokesperson for S&P Dow Jones Indices, which operates the All Tech index, told The Motley Fool that Webjet's industry classification will be changed.
"The global industry classification standard of WEB will be changed from '25502020 (Internet & Direct Marketing Retail)' to '25301020 (Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines)' effective on 22 March, 2021."
This has led to Webjet's exclusion, as the All Tech index doesn't include the 'Hotels, Resorts & Cruise Lines' industry.
Webjet declined to comment to The Motley Fool on the reclassification.
The All Tech index encompasses the following industries:
- Information technology
- Consumer electronics
- Internet & direct marketing retail
- Healthcare technology
- Interactive media & services
Webjet's fate means that index funds that follow the All Tech will be forced to sell out of the business in the coming days. The impact of that sell-off on the share price is yet to be seen.
The Webjet share price was down 0.32% on Wednesday, while it has risen slightly since the index removal was revealed after Friday's trading session.
