Gojek parent GoTo’s fall from grace deepens with removal from MSCI indexes

MSCI recently removed GoTo, formerly known as Gojek Tokopedia, from its indexes due to the company's falling share price making it difficult to trade. This decision came after MSCI issued a warning in May, stating they would remove the stock if it did not meet liquidity requirements. In addition to GoTo, MSCI also removed Sembcorp Industries from Singapore, Ayala Land from the Philippines, and Charoen Pokphand Indonesia from its indexes as part of their quarterly review.

GoTo, created in May 2021 through a merger between Indonesia's top ride-hailing and on-demand services platform, Gojek, and the leading Indonesian e-commerce giant, Tokopedia, once had a market value of over US$32 billion. However, the company has been struggling with heavy losses due to intense competition from rivals like Grab Holdings.

Despite recent restructuring efforts resulting in a second consecutive quarterly profit in July, investor enthusiasm has not been reignited. GoTo's shares have remained stagnant at the minimum price determined by exchange rules for about three months. MSCI's removal of the company from its indexes has also contributed to a decline in the Jakarta Composite Index, which fell by up to 1.3% on August 13, underperforming other regional indices.

Analysts believe that a stock reverse split could be the only way for GoTo to recover, highlighting the challenges the company faces in regaining investor support. The exclusions bring the total number of constituents in the MSCI Indonesia Index down from 18 to nine, following MSCI's deletion of stocks linked to Indonesia's wealthiest individuals due to concentrated ownership in May.

This brings the nation's equity benchmark to a record low, with a 26% drop in 2026, making it the worst-performing major index globally following MSCI's warning of a potential market-status downgrade in January. In June, MSCI delayed its review of Indonesian equities until November, citing the need to assess the effectiveness of recently implemented transparency reforms.

This uncertainty has increased investor anxiety, leading many market participants to remain on the sidelines, with foreign investors pulling over US$4 billion from Indonesian stocks in 2026, potentially making it the biggest annual net outflow on record.