Wix shares plunged about 20% on Wall Street after the Israeli website-building company reported disappointing first-quarter results, with earnings and revenue falling short of analysts’ expectations.
The drop deepened a yearlong slide in the stock and reflected growing investor concern that artificial intelligence is reshaping the website-building market that helped turn Wix into one of Israel’s most successful global tech companies.
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Wix CEO and co-founder Avishai Abrahami, Wix President Nir Zohar
(Photo: Alan Tzatzkin, Amit Shaal, Twitter @nirzo)
Wix reported first-quarter revenue of $541.2 million, up 14.3% from the same period last year but below analysts’ expectations of $543.6 million. Adjusted earnings per share came in at 68 cents, far below forecasts of $1.22. Adjusted operating profit was $27.79 million, compared with expectations of $68.67 million.
The company has spent the past two years reshaping its strategy around AI, launching Wix Harmony and tools that allow users to build full websites using artificial intelligence. It has also shifted more attention to partners, including website-building agencies, rather than relying mainly on individual users.
But the threat from AI has become increasingly tangible. “Vibe coding,” or using AI to generate code, is replacing some of the functions that made Wix popular: quickly building colorful, polished websites without deep technical knowledge. Analysts had already lowered price targets for Wix and similar companies, including GoDaddy, but the latest results still came in below reduced expectations.
The current decline follows several months of pressure, including downgrades from major banks such as UBS and JPMorgan. Analysts have warned that Wix’s main growth engines may be losing momentum and that uncertainty remains around newer initiatives, including Base44.
The concern is that even as Wix integrates AI into its own products, artificial intelligence could make website building so simple and inexpensive that Wix’s core services become less essential.
The outlook appeared more optimistic in the previous quarter, when Wix beat analysts’ forecasts. The company ended 2025 with $1.99 billion in revenue and $573 million in cash flow, while Base44 generated $100 million in revenue. Wix also raised $250 million from institutional investors and projected continued annual growth of 15%.
As part of its preparation for the AI era, Wix developed its own large language model, allowing the company to operate parts of its platform using internal data and user feedback while gaining greater control over AI-related costs and reducing reliance on external AI engines.
But the latest results suggest the transition is proving more difficult than expected. New growth areas, including Harmony and Base44, were supposed to push the company forward, but have not yet done so. Revenue from partners, mainly website-building agencies, was expected to provide significant growth but showed what was described as a soft and disappointing start.
The war also affected operations. Wix said product launch timelines were delayed because of employee absences. The company, which recently became one of the few Israeli tech firms to return to a five-day office workweek, also said the stronger shekel increased labor costs.
Wix has expressed confidence that new target audiences will help preserve annual revenue levels as its traditional markets weaken. The company is placing major emphasis on its acquisition of vibe-coding company Base44, which it says brings significant revenue — about $150 million annually — and represents a central growth engine.
In April, Wix carried out a $1.6 billion share buyback, purchasing about 30% of its outstanding shares in an effort to return value to shareholders and halt the stock’s decline. The company bought 18,718,009 ordinary shares at $92 per share, the top of the price range it had set.
Wix has set a goal of buying back up to $2 billion in shares by the end of 2027, meaning the April repurchase nearly exhausted the planned program.