Asana, whose software helps marketing, operations and sales teams manage projects and collaborate remotely on campaigns, has had a wild ride in 2021. At its peak, the stock was about five times higher than where it closed in 2020, far outpacing all other U.S. tech stocks.
Investors were jumping on a growth story. Year-over-year revenue expansion reached 72% in the second quarter and remained at a robust 70% in the third, when quarterly sales topped $100 million for the first time. While the stock is now trading at half its price from about a month ago, Asana is still up 148% this year, beating every other stock in the 58-memberContinuing their roller-coaster ride in 2021, the shares bounced backed this week, climbing over 7% on Wednesday and almost 9% on Friday.
"There's a very obvious answer, which is Dustin has been buying up shares," said Rishi Jaluria, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets who recommends holding the stock. "That's the big one. That is what's propping this thing up."Like other high-growth cloud companies, Asana is still far from generating cash and is racking up losses.