The turnover increased by 10% compared to the first quarter of the previous year, which is more or less similar to the inflation rate. Over the long term, the trend is clearly towards a slowdown: the expansion was certainly meteoric between 2012 and 2019, but it has since lost momentum.
One good point compared to last year: cash generation is positive, with a free cash flow of $25 million for the quarter. Of course, this cash profit excludes stock options, which amounted to $54 million in the first quarter alone, or 15% of revenues.
This personnel cost makes the company structurally loss-making. It is only half a consolation to note that the strike of the options distributed to employees is within the realm of reasonableness, thus limiting the potential for dilution.
The management promises to improve profitability, but beyond the declarations of intent, one may wonder how it will do so: for example, the project to implement new artificial intelligence capabilities in the platform will necessarily weigh on R&D expenses.
In high demand, good engineers will favor the most generous employers in stock options, while an increasing number of competitors are competing with Wix in the "do it yourself" web design segment. All this will not make things easier.
The consensus of the analysts who follow the group has come down to earth: the group is now quoted at x3 its turnover, its lowest valuation multiple in ten years. This return to the mean was inevitable after a too long sequence of speculative euphoria.