New York—May 13, 2026, 17:03 EDT
- Wix fell sharply to $55.32, down 27.1%, as first-quarter adjusted earnings came in below forecasts.
- Wix posted a 14% jump in revenue to $541.2 million, yet reported a GAAP net loss of $57.5 million.
- JPMorgan lowered its price target on Wix to $86, citing that Wix remains deep in a heavy investment phase that’s “far from over.” TipRanks
Shares of Wix.com Ltd. dropped 27.1% on Wednesday, as investors punished the website-building firm for falling short of first-quarter profit estimates. Its AI investments drew scrutiny, driving the stock down to $55.32 in the wake of pre-market earnings.
It’s not just about a single weak quarter. Wix has to convince investors that Base44—its AI-driven app-builder—and Wix Harmony, the company’s AI website tool, will actually help it reach more customers as small businesses look for quicker, lower-cost ways to spin up sites and apps.
Wix posted first-quarter revenue of $541.2 million, a 14% increase from last year, with bookings coming in at $585.0 million, up 15%. Annualized recurring revenue, or ARR—which reflects the annualized value of current subscription and monthly recurring revenue—landed at $1.903 billion.
Adjusted diluted earnings landed at 68 cents per share, missing the $1.22 consensus from Investing.com. Revenue undershot the $544.04 million projection as well. Non-GAAP operating margin dropped sharply, down to 5% from 21% a year ago.
Costs took a toll this time. Research and development expense climbed to $178.2 million, up from $127.5 million the previous year. Selling and marketing costs also surged, hitting $199.6 million versus $111.6 million last year, according to a filing. Wix swung to a GAAP net loss of $57.5 million, after posting a $33.8 million profit a year ago.
Wix has built its own large language model, or LLM, to run Harmony, Chief Executive Avishai Abrahami said. The company’s homegrown AI system lets Wix manage AI inference costs—the computing expense of handling user prompts—while reducing its dependence on external LLM vendors, he added.
Lior Shemesh, the company’s CFO, said bookings from Wix’s latest first-quarter user cohort jumped close to 50% year-over-year, citing contributions from both Base44 and the core Wix platform. As of May, Base44’s ARR stood at roughly $150 million, according to the company.
Opinions were divided on Wall Street about whether the selloff had gone too far. JPMorgan’s Alexei Gogolev trimmed his price target on Wix to $86 from $91 and maintained an Underweight rating, pointing to revenue and EBIT misses and noting the company’s investment phase is “far from over.” Over at Bank of America, Mike McGovern dropped his target to $95 from $109 but stuck with a Buy rating, describing the quarter as “mixed,” per TipRanks. TipRanks
Competition isn’t getting any easier. Wix continues to bump up against GoDaddy and Shopify in the small-business web and commerce space, and with AI-driven coding and design tools moving in, investors have started questioning what users are willing to spend on conventional website-building platforms.
Wix highlighted its latest capital returns, noting it spent roughly $1.6 billion in April to buy back around 17.5 million ordinary shares at $92 apiece using a modified Dutch auction tender offer. The repurchase trimmed its outstanding share count to 41.85 million as of May 11.
The company reaffirmed its 2026 outlook, still projecting mid-teens percentage growth for both revenue and bookings. For the second quarter, revenue is seen rising at a similar mid-teens pace. Management also stuck with its target for full-year free cash flow margin—excluding acquisition costs—calling for a high teens percentage.
The risk is hard to ignore. Wix pointed to a slower-than-hoped start for its Partners segment, plus drag from Middle East conflict impacting productivity, potential setbacks launching new products, and open questions about demand for AI tools like Harmony and Base44. High spending with weak conversion could leave the AI push squeezing margins—despite gains on the top line.
