Wix.com Ltd. (NASDAQ:WIX) shares are touching fresh 52-week lows Monday, continuing a brutal slide that began with a massive Q1 earnings miss in May — as investors also weigh whether AI poses an existential threat to the company’s core website-building business or represents an opportunity it can grow into.
- Wix stock is testing lower boundaries. What’s behind WIX weakness?
How We Got Here
The selloff started on May 13 when Wix reported Q1 results that badly missed expectations. Non-GAAP EPS came in at $0.68 — a 44% miss versus the $1.22 consensus — while revenue of $541 million came in roughly in line. The bigger concern was margins: operating expenses as a percentage of revenue surged from 21% in Q1 2025 to 35% in Q1 2026, a trajectory that alarmed investors. The stock fell 27% that day.
Two weeks later, on May 28, CEO Avishai Abrahami announced the largest layoff in the company’s history — approximately 1,000 positions, or 20% of its global workforce. Abrahami cited two forces: a strengthening Israeli shekel that has made the company’s largely Israel-based workforce increasingly expensive in dollar terms, and the need to rebuild the company around AI-native roles. The shekel has appreciated roughly 21% against the dollar over the past 18 months, creating a $64 million full-year expense headwind that cannot simply be engineered away.
The AI Question
The layoffs sit at the center of a broader debate about Wix’s future. The bear case is straightforward — if AI tools and vibe coding platforms can build a website automatically, there may be less need for Wix’s templates and drag-and-drop editor. Management has acknowledged that AI may be causing some of its professional development customers to slow their spending. The stock has now fallen nearly 73% from its 52-week high of $190.93.
But Wix is also trying to get ahead of the threat. On June 3, the company was named as a partner in OpenAI’s Codex Enterprise launch — a signal that Wix sees AI as an opportunity as much as a risk. The company also acquired vibe-coding platform Base44 earlier this year for $80 million, and has been building out its own AI-powered tools including Wix AI Website Builder and Wixel, an AI-powered visual design platform.
Wix Shares Drop
WIX Price Action: At the time of publication, Wix shares are trading 4.98% lower at $49.79, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
