Sydney, June 18, 2026, 08:03 AEST
- Xero ended Wednesday 3.45% higher at A$74.58. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 0.54% to finish at 8,966.30. Yahoo Finance
- Bruce Williams at Elston Asset Management said Xero was the fund’s biggest recent buy after a steep drop. Livewire Markets
- The ASX cash market sat in pre-open at the dateline, with regular trade set to begin just ahead of 10 a.m. Sydney time. Australian Securities Exchange
Xero shares are set for Thursday’s Australian trade following a 3.5% gain at the last close. Investors rotated back into beaten-down ASX software stocks. One local fund manager called the cloud-accounting player attractive after a stretch of selling.
The stock closed Wednesday at A$74.58, up A$2.49 on the day. Shares moved between A$70.18 and A$74.70. The S&P/ASX 200 gained 48.60 points to 8,966.30, its winning streak now at four days. Intelligent Investor
Xero has stood out among Australian growth stocks going into 2026. It jumped along with WiseTech, which rose 4.1%, and SiteMinder, up 10.1%, as tech names rallied and the market bounced back. News
ASX was still in its pre-open at the dateline. Brokers could line up orders, but the exchange does not match trades during this phase. Standard cash trading starts at almost 10 a.m., closing at 4 p.m. Sydney. Australian Securities Exchange
S&P/ASX 200 futures traded around 8,893 ahead of the open, below where the index finished on Wednesday. Early signs hint at weakness for high-growth shares before the auction. Investing
“The most notable addition this quarter was Xero Limited,” Bruce Williams at Elston Asset Management told Livewire Markets. Williams said the stock had seen selling over the past nine months thanks to its high earnings multiple, the Melio acquisition at 13.4 times revenue, and concerns about more competition from AI tools. Livewire Markets
Xero’s current price looks attractive, Williams said. He cited Xero’s share in Australia and Britain and room for operating leverage as it grows offshore. Williams also noted the opportunity to monetize Melio’s payments technology. Livewire Markets
Xero last updated the market in May, posting FY26 operating revenue of NZ$2.75 billion, which was up 31%. Adjusted EBITDA rose 18% to NZ$757.4 million. That measure strips out interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation, and some non-cash or one-off items. Free cash flow climbed 9% to NZ$554.0 million. Customer numbers went up 11% to 4.92 million.
Xero is projecting operating revenue for FY27 in a range of NZ$3.62 billion to NZ$3.73 billion and sees adjusted EBITDA between NZ$860 million and NZ$920 million. That includes as much as NZ$55 million for extra U.S. brand spending. CEO Sukhinder Singh Cassidy called the FY26 result proof of “disciplined execution and macro-resilience,” tying the company’s outlook to its AI and U.S. payments push.
But the bounce hasn’t erased Xero’s drop. Trading Economics numbers show Xero is still off about 61% over the last 12 months, even with Wednesday’s pop. The risks are clear: higher rates could pressure pricey software names again, Melio might be slower to boost U.S. payments, or AI could make it easier for rivals to enter small-business accounting sooner than Xero thinks. Trading Economics
Xero’s investor calendar lists the next company events as the annual meeting set for Aug. 27 and FY27 half-year results due Nov. 12. For now, the stock may keep moving with tech-sector risk sentiment, rate bets and whether buyers step in after the Melio pullback instead of just closing out short-term trades. Xero
