The Webjet Limited (ASX: WEB) share price is flying breezy today despite a so-so market. At the time of writing, shares in the travel agency are trading for $5.90 – up 1.72%. For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) is just 0.21% higher.
While the company hasn't made any market sensitive announcements in 3 weeks, something is clearly getting investors excited.
Let's take a closer look.
Webjet is in the skies
While it's a mixed day across the market, one clear winner is the ASX travel sector. Besides the Webjet share price, Qantas Airways Limited (ASX: QAN), Flight Centre Travel Group Ltd (ASX: FLT), and Helloworld Travel Ltd (ASX: HLO) shares are all higher too.
One reason for this may be increasing optimism about Australia's international borders. Under the national roadmap to living with COVID-19, the federal government has promised to reopen Australia's borders once 80% of the nation is fully vaccinated against the disease.
The NSW government recently began trialling home quarantine for some returning Australians as well. This is in anticipation of later in the year when borders are expected to reopen.
Qantas, for example, is already selling tickets to North America, the UK, and Fiji in anticipation of flights resuming in December. Only yesterday, Qantas announced a date for the resumption of flights between NSW and Victoria.
Another possible reason for rising investor sentiment (and the Webjet share price) may be news coming out of Washington DC.
As Reuters is reporting, the US government will reopen its borders in November to fully vaccinated travellers from 33 countries, including China, India, and the United Kingdom. For investors, this may be further optimism that we are heading towards the beginning of the end of the pandemic.
Webjet share price snapshot
Over the last 12 months, the Webjet share price has increased 54.9%. Year-to-date, Webjet shares are up 16.37%. Since the beginning of 2021, it has overperformed the ASX 200 by about 6 percentage points.
The 52-week high is $6.33 and the 52-week low is $3.44.
Webjet has a market capitalisation of about $2.2 billion.
