ASX Tech October Winners: Sector buckles under Xero and WiseTech, but Weebit joins $1bn club

• ASX tech hits a speed bump in October
• New winners rise as old giants stumble
• Archer, Weebit and co keep the spark alive

October wasn’t kind to ASX tech investors.

The S&P/ASX All Technology Index (XIJ) fell a hefty 8%, making it the worst-performing sector for the month.

But before anyone starts panicking, it’s worth noting this wasn’t a broad collapse; it was really just two heavyweights dragging the whole pack down: Xero (ASX:XRO) and WiseTech Global (ASX:WTC).

Xero tumbled about 8% in the month after completing its US$2.5 billion acquisition of Melio, a US-based small-business payments platform.

The deal itself makes strategic sense; it gives Xero a big American footprint and the potential to double group revenue by FY28.

But markets aren’t big fans of “one-off costs” or billion-dollar cheques funded by placements and debt.

Investors saw NZ$52 million in transaction costs, new debt facilities, and plenty of intangible amortisation ahead, and decided to take profits.

WiseTech, meanwhile, had a very different problem.

Its shares slumped around 23% in the month after ASIC and the AFP turned up at its Sydney office with a search warrant relating to alleged insider trading by founder Richard White and three employees.

No charges have been laid, and the company itself isn’t accused of wrongdoing, but reputational hits always sting harder than earnings misses.

The tech flame is still burning

So yes, the XIJ index chart looks ugly, but the sector’s underlying pulse is still strong.

Over in the US, the Nasdaq climbed 4% through October, proof that tech is still well and truly alive.

Nvidia, the new king of silicon, became the first company ever to top a US$5 trillion valuation.

Loop Capital reckons it could still go even higher to US$8.5 trillion on the so-called “Golden Wave” of AI adoption.

The latest US earnings season also reminded investors that the AI story is maturing, not fading.

Investors now want to see proof that all that silicon spending is actually turning into profit.

Alphabet and Amazon nailed that brief.

Alphabet smashed through the US$100 billion quarterly revenue mark for the first time, thanks to a rebound in advertising and a booming cloud business – both now turbocharged by AI tools that actually make money.

Amazon pulled off a similar trick: its cloud arm, AWS, delivered nearly US$33 billion in revenue despite a global outage, proving that scale and efficiency can still coexist.

Back home, meanwhile, there’s a fresh batch of ASX tech names that are also on fire.

ASX tech leaders in October

Archer Materials (ASX:AXE)

Archer was the best-performing ASX tech stock in October, and it earned it.

The company nailed three major updates that strengthened its position in both quantum computing and medical diagnostics.

First, Archer’s silicon Biochip passed clinical accuracy tests for measuring blood potassium. Built in collaboration with Belgium’s IMEC, the chip hit ±0.3 mM accuracy, matching hospital standards, but now on low-cost silicon instead of graphene.

Second, Archer signed a deal with US-based Emergence Quantum, a key player behind IONQ, to co-develop next-gen quantum devices using graphene and carbon materials. The partnership is designed to fast-track R&D through a structured commercialisation program.

And third, Archer advanced its carbon-based qubit program. After earlier proving it could detect quantum spin on-chip, it’s now achieved reproducible device performance and wafer-scale carbon films that work with standard semiconductor tools.

The goal: a working qubit by mid-2026, one that runs at room temperature, not in a freezer.

OpenLearning (ASX:OLL)

OLL was one of the best-performing ASX tech stocks in October, after raising $2.6 million in a strongly backed placement at 2.2 cents a share, with major shareholder ECA tipping in $1.25 million.

The fresh funds will help it push deeper into markets like the Philippines and Brazil, speed up product development, and target cash-flow breakeven within 18 months.

The AI-powered learning platform is gaining serious traction. SaaS ARR rose 27% year-on-year, cash receipts jumped 231%, and new five-year contracts were signed with major universities including UP Manila and Cebu Institute of Technology.

With 15 straight quarters of SaaS growth and expanding deals across Asia and Latin America, OpenLearning’s classroom looks a lot bigger, and busier, than it did a year ago.

OpenLearning runs an AI-driven learning management system (LMS) that helps universities and education providers design and deliver online courses using tools like its AI Course Builder and Assistant.

Weebit Nano (ASX:WBT)

Weebit has joined the $1 billion market cap club after hitting another major milestone during the month.

The memory chip company taped out its embedded ReRAM test chips at onsemi’s 300mm production fab in New York.

It marks a key step in transferring its resistive memory technology into onsemi’s advanced 65-nanometre BCD process, the kind used for high-performance automotive, industrial and AI chips.

The new test chips will now undergo qualification ahead of volume production, with Weebit’s ReRAM offering ultra-low power use, high density, and faster read/write speeds compared to Flash memory.

Weebit builds and licenses ReRAM – a new kind of non-volatile memory that’s faster, more energy-efficient and longer-lasting than Flash.

Acusensus (ASX:ACE)

During October, ACE scored its first automated enforcement camera program in the US securing a contract with the Connecticut Department of Transportation.

The deal marks a major milestone for the Aussie road safety tech firm, proving its long-term strategy to grow its US business is paying off.

With its US operations team already up and running, Acusensus says it’s well placed to deliver on the program.

The company has also secured credit-approved term sheets from major banks for up to $25 million in new facilities to support further expansion.

Back home, Acusensus’ Queensland contract has been doubled by the Department of Transport and Main Roads, adding another $16.6 million worth of trailer-based speed enforcement units to be rolled out from this month.

Early results from the program have been dramatic, showing a 92% drop in excessive speeding within seven months.

Rubicon Water (ASX:RWL)

In October, Rubicon locked in $8.3 million worth of new projects across the US, Italy and Australia, all set to be delivered this financial year.

The standout win is a $2.3 million deal with California’s Glenn-Colusa Irrigation District, its first US project funded by a private company under ESG and water stewardship commitments.

In Italy, Rubicon secured a $1.4 million contract with Consorzio Canale Emiliano Romagnolo to automate another 45 offtakes across 300,000 hectares of farmland.

The wins mark four of 18 major projects flagged in its FY25 sales pipeline and highlight growing global demand for its irrigation automation tech as industries face increasing water pressure.

ASX tech laggards in October