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Wix Stock Surges More Than 65% in a Year: Will the Rally Continue?

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Wix.com’s (WIX - Free Report) shares have been performing well on the trading front, with a gain of 65.4% in the past year compared with the S&P 500 composite and sub-industry’s growth of 25.9% and 22.9%, respectively.

Strong financial performance is driving the stock’s trajectory. The company’s earnings surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters with an average surprise of 29.8%. 

Closing at $156.59 as of yesterday’s trading session, WIX stock is currently trading 12.4% below its 52-week high of $178.65 attained on June 6, 2024. Technical indicators are supportive of Wix’s strong performance. The stock is trading above its 100-day and 200-day moving averages, indicating robust upward momentum and price stability.

One-Year Price Performance

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, WIX is a cloud-based web development platform. It offers solutions that enable businesses, organizations, professionals and individuals to develop customized websites and application platforms and grow the companies’ online presence.

WIX’s Focus on AI-Powered Solutions to Drive Growth

Increasing adoption of the product portfolio, especially various artificial intelligence (AI) products and WIX Studio, has been driving the company’s performance. The addition of new features and enhancements to WIX Studio is driving its uptake. Management highlighted that the number of Studio accounts and rate of new Partners joining the Wix platform through Studio continue to better expectations. 

The addition of new AI-powered offerings to its product portfolio is another tailwind. WIX is focusing on embedding AI assistants across its platform and has released 17 AI business assistants. The company recently launched its latest AI Theme Assistant which provides users with personalized recommendations and real-time advice, allowing them to easily customize their website’s theme. This tool is part of a broader suite of innovations from Wix, which is aimed at supporting users throughout every phase of their online journey, from initial ideas to final execution.

In June 2024, Wix launched advanced AI creation capabilities for its mobile app builder. The initiative is set to empower users to effortlessly craft professional and fully customizable applications. By leveraging AI technology, it revolutionizes the way business apps for iOS and Android can be designed and altered. 

The company also expanded the availability of its AI Website Builder in different languages. Besides English, AI Website Builder is now available to global users in French, German, Portuguese, Spanish, Italian, Japanese, Turkish and Korean. This initiative aids users in building websites in their preferred language. 

WIX is focusing on generative AI as this represents a significant business growth driver. In the second quarter of 2024, bookings revenues came at $458.4 million. This 15% year-over-year improvement was driven by solid uptake of WIX Studio, AI product suite and expanding commerce platform in this quarter. Total revenues increased 12% year over year to $435.7 million and beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $433.6 million. The expansion of the AI product portfolio is expected to drive the top line for WIX and further boost the stock.

WIX’s Robust Outlook

Continued strong momentum in the first half of 2024 led WIX to upgrade the outlook for bookings, revenues and free cash flow for the year.

Total bookings are expected to be between $1,802 million and $1,822 million compared with a previous range of $1,796-$1,826 million.

Total revenues are now expected to be in the range of $1,747-$1,761 million (previous projection:  $1,738 million to $1,761 million).

Free cash flow, excluding headquarters costs, is expected to be between $460 million and $470 million, or 26-27% of revenues in 2024. Earlier, free cash flow was expected in the range of $445-$455 million, or 26% of revenues.

Estimates Northbound for WIX

The estimates have also moved northward in the past 60 days. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2024 and 2025 earnings per share (EPS) has increased 7.3% and 2.4%, respectively, reflecting analysts’ optimism.
The estimated figures for 2024 and 2025 EPS, $5.86 and $6.93, respectively, indicate a rise of 33.5% and 18.3% from the prior-year actuals. The long-term earnings growth rate is 22.4%.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WIX’s 2024 and 2025 revenues is pegged at $1.75 billion and $1.99 billion, respectively, which indicates growth of 12.4% and 13.2% from the year-ago levels.

WIX’s Attractive Valuation

WIX presents a compelling investment opportunity with its attractive forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio of 4.47, significantly lower than the industry average of 10.72 observed in the past year. Its forward 12-month price-to-sales ratio positions WIX as a value-driven choice with significant upside potential.

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Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

WIX Faces Certain Headwinds

However, unfavorable foreign currency movement and weak global macroeconomic conditions are headwinds.

Increasing investments in product development, infrastructure and platform, along with stiff competition in the e-commerce marketplace, remain concerning for this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks worth consideration in the broader technology space are Manhattan Associates (MANH - Free Report) , Adobe (ADBE - Free Report) and ANSYS (ANSS - Free Report) . While Manhattan Associates sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Adobe and ANSYS carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) each at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for MANH’s 2024 EPS is pegged at $4.26, unchanged in the past 30 days. MANH’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, with the average surprise being 26.6%. The stock has surged 33.9% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for Adobe’s fiscal 2024 EPS is pegged at $18.18, increased by 2 cents in the past 30 days. ADBE’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in each of the trailing four quarters, the average surprise being 2.6%. The long-term earnings growth rate is 13.1%. Its shares have declined 2% in the past year.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ANSS’ 2024 earnings is pegged at $9.96, unchanged in the past 30 days. ANSS’ earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the last four quarters while missing the mark once, with the average surprise being 4.8%. Its shares have gained 2% in the past year.


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