Website creator Wix.com raises 2023 outlook despite uncertain economy
By Steven Scheer
JERUSALEM (Reuters) -Wix.com, which helps small businesses build and operate websites, on Wednesday said it swung to a net profit in the first quarter and raised its full year outlook despite an uncertain economy.
Helped by cost cuts including an 18% decline in its head count in the past year, the Israeli company said it had earned 91 cents per share excluding one-time items, compared with a loss of 72 cents per share a year earlier.
Revenue grew 10% to $374 million, led by a 9% rise in Creative Solutions and an 11% gain in Business Solutions.
Wix, which has started to integrate artificial intelligence into its products, beat forecasts of 14 cents excluding one-time items and revenue of $369 million, Refinitiv I/B/E/S data showed.
Citing an "outperformance" in the first quarter, Wix raised its 2023 revenue estimate to a range of $1.522 billion to $1.543 billion - growth of 10-11% - from a range of $1.51 billion to $1.535 billion.
Still, Wix.com remained cautious and was keeping estimates conservative.
"It's a little bit unclear where the economy is heading - are we still facing a potential recession or are we heading out of this crisis and the economy is going to bounce back within the next few quarters in the United States and globally?" chief operating officer and president Nir Zohar told reporters.
He noted that other e-commerce companies such as Shopify were also reporting better metrics but still have not fully recovered from the pandemic.
Wix.com projects second-quarter revenue of between $380 million and $385 million for annual growth of as much as 12%.
The company said it continued to buy back its own shares and has so far purchased $250 million out of a $300 million plan.
Its Nasdaq-listed shares were up 8.4% to $88.25 in pre-market trading.
JP Morgan on Wednesday raised its target price for Wix.com to $89 from $84, while Jefferies raised its target to $120 from $110.
(Reporting by Steven Scheer; editing by Jason Neely)
