The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price has been outperforming over the last 12 months.
The online travel agent was hit hard by the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic during early 2020 and didn't truly begin recovering until November last year.
This time last year, shares in Webjet were going for $3.91. Right now, the Webjet share price is $5.94, having gained another 1.37% today.
So, what spurred Webjet's shares to take off? Let's take a look.
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What's been driving the Webjet share price?
The last 12 months have been good to the Webjet share price, boosting it by 51%.
For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has gained 25% over the same period.
Webjet's best day of the last year was on 10 November 2020. It's a day many investors will remember for one extraordinary reason: It was the day that Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE) announced it had created a vaccine for COVID-19.
The Webjet share price soared 13.5% as a pathway out of the pandemic was finally realised.
Webjet's recovery was bolstered again when it released its earnings for the first half of financial year 2021.
While travel restrictions plagued the company over the 6 months ended 31 December 2020, the market seemingly saw past its underlying earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) loss of $40.1 million and a massive fall in revenue.
While the Webjet share price initially fell on the back of its results, it ended the day 5% higher than it had started.
Most recently, Webjet's stock surged following the release of a trading update late last month.
Within the update, Webjet announced it expects to be cash-flow positive for the first half of financial year 2022. Of course, Webjet recently changed its financial year to run from 1 April to 31 March. Therefore, it expects to announce its first-half earnings in November.
Additionally, it announced its WebBeds business finally returned to profitability in July.
WebBeds operates as a business-to-business provider of accommodation. Webjet stated it managed to get back into the green as travel restrictions eased in Europe and North America.
The Webjet share price gained 3.4% on the day of the update. It has since gained another 4.9%.
