SYDNEY, April 27, 2026, 05:11 (AEST)
State Street Corp’s group entities have bumped up their voting stake in WiseTech Global Ltd., lifting it to 6.07% from 5.06%. That comes ahead of Monday’s resumption in Sydney trading for the logistics software player—an institutional shift to note. According to a Form 604 notice dated April 24, the State Street group now holds votes tied to 20.39 million WiseTech ordinary shares, up from 17.00 million, after its interest changed on April 22.
The timing is key here: WiseTech continues to urge investors to focus on its main software growth story, the E2open integration, and a sweeping AI-driven overhaul—even as it navigates the aftermath of tough governance issues. A one-point rise in a major position doesn’t scream takeover by itself. Still, with confidence in the stock not fully restored, institutional flows don’t go unnoticed.
Australia’s substantial holder rules kick in once an investor’s voting power hits 5%, with further disclosure required for any shift of at least 1 percentage point after that. The aim: flag to the market who really holds sway over a listed company’s votes.
WiseTech finished Friday at A$44.44, a 0.14% gain, putting its market cap around A$14.82 billion. The company’s value has tumbled 47.58% over the past year, StockAnalysis.com data shows. Xero sits at roughly A$13.86 billion, with Technology One at about A$9.72 billion.
Just days after WiseTech announced changes to its board, the filing appeared. Andrew Harrison plans to step down as non-executive director on June 30, according to the company. Raelene Murphy is set to take over as lead independent director and chair the audit and risk committee starting May 1. WiseTech also noted it’s on the hunt for an additional independent non-executive director.
This isn’t just a face-lift in governance. Back in February, Reuters pointed out that WiseTech shares were still lagging, well off their highs from November 2024, after accusations involving founder and former CEO Richard White rattled investors. Uncertainty over AI’s impact on the company piled on more pressure. “More governance-driven than fundamental,” is how Marc Jocum, senior product and investment strategist at Global X ETFs, sized up the recent slump. CEO Zubin Appoo offered a blunt assessment too: the era of hand-coding as the core engineering task is done. Reuters
WiseTech’s push into AI is the other major point on the table. According to Reuters, the company plans to axe roughly 2,000 positions—about 29% of its global staff of 7,000—over the next two years as it integrates AI further into both customer-facing software and its own operations.
Still, the risks aren’t hard to spot. Professionals Australia, the union for tech and engineering staff, called the AI rollout a “major workplace change” right after the restructuring news broke, and pushed for talks on layoffs, retraining and moving staff. If service or product quality slips because of the cuts, any savings could unravel in a hurry. Reuters
Despite the hit to shares, brokers aren’t throwing in the towel. MarketIndex’s Friday market wrap noted Morgans stuck with its buy call on WiseTech and kept the A$70.40 target. The stock landed on a list of ASX names that saw broker action late last week.
Most analysts remain upbeat. Out of 16 tracked by Investing.com, 14 recommend buying, two say hold, and nobody’s calling a sell. Their average 12-month target? A$81.16. That’s consensus, not a promise, and hinges on delivery.
WiseTech claims its software now reaches logistics, global trade, and supply-chain clients around the world—more than 22,000 logistics firms and industry players operating in 193 countries, it says. The E2open deal bumps that network to over 500,000 connected businesses, a scale that most local software rivals can’t approach. It’s a much broader base for WiseTech to test out its AI push.
