The new year usually brings a renewed and improved sense of optimism. However, this optimism is not yet apparent in the movement of domestic *e-commerce* stocks.
During the first week of this new year, the share price of PT GoTo Gojek Tokopedia Tbk (GOTO) strengthened slightly by 2.1%, from Rp93 on Monday (2/1/2023) to Rp95 on Friday (6/1/2023).
However, other *e-commerce* stocks remained weak. Shares of PT Bukalapak Tbk (BUKA) fell 3.93% from Rp264 to Rp254 during the same period.
The share price of PT Global Digital Niaga Tbk (BELI) also contracted by 2.17%, from Rp470 to Rp460 in the first week of 2023.
Furthermore, the share prices of GOTO and BUKA have fallen significantly since last year. Based on Yahoo Finance data, throughout 2022, GOTO's share price fell by approximately 76%, while BUKA fell by 36%.
BELI, which debuted on the exchange in early November 2022, briefly strengthened by 4.44% until the end of last year, although it subsequently weakened in the first week of 2023.
This seems consistent with the projection by Maynard Arif, Head of Research at DBS Group, who believes that the movement of digital sector stocks will be challenging in 2023.
"Investors are currently not focused on a company's market share growth. Investors prioritize companies that are able to survive, are not recording losses, and are able to optimize funding," said Maynard Arif, as quoted by *Katadata*, Wednesday (28/12/2022).
"Therefore, in our opinion, digital stocks will still be under pressure in 2023, if Indonesian technology companies continue to show significant losses," he continued.
During the January-September 2022 period, GOTO did indeed still record losses, with its net loss swelling by 70.65% (yoy) to reach Rp20.91 trillion.
During the same period, BUKA reported a profit of Rp3.6 billion, but this profit was entirely supported by 'unrealized and realized investment gains', not operating profit.