The turmoil at Wix is deepening. Less than two weeks after announcing a sweeping layoff plan affecting about 20% of its workforce, or roughly 1,000 employees, the Israeli website-building platform is cutting its 2026 outlook, signaling that its business difficulties run deeper than the stronger shekel and the challenges posed by the artificial intelligence revolution.
The company said it now expects about $50 million less in bookings and about $25 million less in revenue than it forecast to investors less than a month ago, when it released its first-quarter results.
Under the updated forecast, Wix expects bookings to grow 11%-14% in 2026 from the previous year, down from an earlier forecast of 15%-16%. Its revenue outlook was also lowered, with the company now expecting growth of 11%-16%, compared with its previous forecast of 15%-16%.
Following the guidance cut, Wix shares fell sharply, dropping about 12% in premarket trading on Nasdaq and deepening the decline they have recorded since the beginning of the year.
At the center of the warning is Wix’s partners business, the community of website builders and digital agencies that market the company’s products to business customers. It is a key growth engine for Wix, accounting for about 38% of its revenue.
Signs of a slowdown in that activity were already visible in Wix’s first-quarter results, when the partners business posted growth of only 19%, below analyst expectations and the targets the company had set for itself. At the time, Wix said it had chosen to reduce marketing expenses for Wix Studio, its platform for professional website builders.
But the slowdown appears to have continued and worsened. Wix now acknowledges that during the final weeks of May and early June, the partners' business showed significantly weaker-than-expected performance, prompting the company to lower its forecasts.
Wix is trying to soften the blow by pointing to its recently announced efficiency plan. The company estimates the layoffs will save about $70 million this year, with annualized savings expected to reach about $150 million. On the way there, however, Wix will incur a one-time expense of $30 million to $35 million, mainly due to severance payments.
The company also pointed to an improved free cash flow forecast, which is expected to total about $420 million for the current year.
Investors, however, appear more focused on whether Wix can defend its position in a market being shaken by the AI revolution. At the heart of the concern is growing competition from new AI tools that allow users to build websites and software automatically.
Wix is trying to confront the shift more aggressively, including through its acquisition of Base44, a vibe-coding company intended to strengthen its presence in AI-based software development. But some Base44 customers also use the platform to develop websites, potentially creating overlap and even cannibalization of some of Wix’s core products.
Investor concern is also reflected in the stock’s performance. Since the beginning of the year, Wix has lost nearly half its value, despite carrying out a massive share buyback program totaling about $1.7 billion.
Following the latest declines, the company is already recording a paper loss of about $850 million on that move. Its market value has fallen to about $2 billion, far from the peak days when it traded at about $20 billion at the end of 2020, during the height of the coronavirus pandemic, which provided a tailwind for its business.