Time goes by so fast… FY2021 is now over and FY2022 has begun. And may it bring wealth and success to all investors! But with a new financial year underway, it's a great time to look back on the year that was, and check out some of the best (and worst) performing ASX shares. Today, we're looking at some of the best performing shares in the Information Technology sector of the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO). Last week, we looked at some of the best All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) tech performers. But now, let's check out what some of the ASX 200's tech heavyweights were doing last financial year.
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Best ASX 200 tech share performers of FY21
Xero Limited (ASX: XRO)
Cloud accounting software provider Xero is our first ASX 200 tech share we're looking at today. Our first WAAAX share, Xero had a fantastic FY21, rising from around $90 in July 2020 to finish the financial year at $1337.09. That's a gain of 65%. Investors can look to Xero's strong growth as a probable reason why. Xero reported its 12-month earnings to 31 March back in May. And they were incontrovertibly impressive. Revenues were up 18%, subscriber numbers grew by 20% (including international growth of 21%) and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose by 39%. The company also told investors to look forward to more 'post-COVID growth'. It seems they are taking the hint.
Megaport Ltd (ASX: MP1)
Another ASX tech share to examine today is Megaport. Megaport had a very decent FY21, rising from roughly $12.08 last year to finishing up the financial year last week at $18.40 a share. That's a gain of 28.66%. This 'interconnection' company was indisputably one of the ASX's best 'COVID winners'. Despite the pandemic, this company managed to keep its customers, and revenues, growing throughout the year. And that evidently helped investors to continue to flock to Megaport shares. In addition to its stellar FY21 performance, the Megaport share price is also up an impressive ~800% over the past 5 years.
Dicker Data Ltd (ASX: DDR)
Data company Dicker was another top performer last financial year. Dicker Data shares started FY21 out at approximately $6.93 a share, but finished up last Wednesday at $18.40. That represents a gain of 59.9%. Dicker is something of an 'old school' ASX tech company. It has been around since the 1970s, and distributes both hardware and software to its client base. Despite the pandemic, Dicker is another company that didn't seem to miss a beat. Back in March, Dicker reported that it had managed to grow its profits by close to 21%, and its EBITDA to almost 24% over FY20. Investors are clearly hopeful of this trend continuing over FY21.
WiseTech Global Ltd (ASX: WTC)
Another WAAAXer here, the WiseTech global share price has certainly seen its fair share of ups and downs over the past few years. But FY21 decisively delivered more of the former for investors. WiseTech started the financial year last year at roughly $19.35 a share. Last week, it finished up at $31.92, a gain of 65% for the period. Like Dicker Data, this company's share price was buoyed by well-received earnings reports over the year that was. WiseTech managed to give its share price a shot in the arm back in August last year, when it reported a 23% increase in revenues and a 17% bump in EBITDA. WiseTech's February half-year earnings for FY21 continued this trend, with the company reporting that revenues grew again by 16% over the half as well as a 43% rise in EBITDA. Investors have clearly rewarded WiseTech over FY21 for these efforts.
Afterpay Ltd (ASX: APT)
How could we not mention Afterpay? The buy now, pay later (BNPL) pioneer is famous for its enriching share price performance, and FY21 was no exception. Afterpay started the financial year at a share price of $60.99. It managed to end the year at $117.80 a share, marking its FY21 performance at a gain of 92.15%. Very impressive stuff, especially considering that the bookended share price is a good 25% less than the all-time high of $160.05 that Afterpay made back in February.
Still, 92.15% was enough to make Afterpay the best performing ASX 200 tech share on the share market over FY21. What can we put this down to? Well, the company seemed to continue to benefit from red hot sentiment for BNPL shares over the year, albeit a bit more subdued after February's highs. Continuing growth, talk of a US-listing, new products such as a new debit/BNPL card, as well as the US listing of a BNPL company in Affirm Holdings Inc (NASDAQ: AFRM) also may have helped.
