Wix Reports Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2022 Results

• Finished 2022 ahead of guidance, with total revenue of $355.0 million in the fourth quarter, up 6% y/y; total revenue was $361.4 million and up 8% y/y on a constant currency basis
• Q4'22 was the most profitable FCF quarter in Wix history with FCF1 of $52.0 million, ahead of guidance
• Cost efficiencies expected to generate an additional $50 million of savings in 2023 (~$65 million annualized), accelerating path to profitability
• Creative Subscriptions non-GAAP gross margin expected to reach 80% in FY 2023
• Expecting FCF1 margin of 10-11% of revenue for full year 2023, increasing each quarter and exiting the year at 12-13%
• Accelerated profitability drives new goal of achieving positive GAAP net income in FY 2025, ahead of plan
• Confident and committed to achieving "Rule of 40" in FY 2025 under varying future growth scenarios
• Exceptional brand strength of Wix enabling an evolution in our marketing strategy and demonstrating our category leadership -- despite reducing acquisition marketing spend by ~50% in Q4, we have seen stable new cohort bookings
• Executed $243 million2 of ordinary share repurchases in Q4, representing approximately 5% of our total ordinary shares outstanding, underscoring board and management conviction in our current and future ability to generate strong free cash flow

NEW YORK, Feb. 22, 2023 /PRNewswire/ -- Wix.com Ltd. (Nasdaq: WIX) today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2022. In addition, the Company provided its initial outlook for the first quarter and full year 2023. Please visit the Wix Investor Relations website at https://investors.wix.com/ to view the Q4'22 Shareholder Update and other materials.

"In the face of a dynamic macroeconomic environment this year, we shifted our focus toward tightening spending and becoming more efficient in the execution of our priorities. Through all of this, we continued to lead through innovation. We released hundreds of new products and features throughout 2022 to improve our platform for self creators and partners. Among the most notable releases this year were Wix Blocks for developers, our new Wix Editor, Wix Portfolio and our new AI Text Creator," said Avishai Abrahami, Wix Co-founder and CEO. "We enter 2023 with great confidence that we are creating a best-in-class platform that will bring forth innovation and create lasting value for our users and shareholders. The actions and strategies implemented this past year position us well to weather this uncertain period, emerge a stronger and more profitable software company, and achieve 'Rule of 40' in 2025. While internet growth is currently reverting back to the pre-pandemic trendline, we believe there are still many years of significant expansion ahead. The potential for Wix in 2023 and beyond is enormous, and I am excited about what is to come."

Lior Shemesh, CFO at Wix, added, "We ended 2022 on strong footing with Q4 and full year revenue above our guidance range as well as the strongest quarter of free cash flow1 in our history. Earlier this month, we began implementing further cost efficiency measures that we expect to yield an additional $50 million of cost savings in 2023 and $65 million on an annualized basis. Combined with our original cost reduction plan, we now expect total cost savings of $200 million in 2023 and $215 million of annualized savings compared to the plan we shared at our May 2022 Analyst Day. By continuing to control what we can, we expect to accelerate profitability with positive GAAP and non-GAAP net income now expected sooner than originally anticipated, exit 2023 with a FCF1 margin of ~12-13%, and achieve the 'Rule of 40' in FY2025 under varying revenue growth scenarios."

Accelerated Path to Profitability

We are confident in and committed to achieving "Rule of 40" in FY2025 under varying future growth scenarios with the acceleration of our path to profitability through additional cost reduction measures.

On top of the $150 million cost reduction plan announced in August 2022, we are implementing an incremental $50 million of cost savings in 2023. These savings consist of a further reduction in headcount that took place last week, increased hosting efficiencies and a reduction in capex. On an annualized basis, these actions create $65 million of savings for a total of $215 million of annualized cost savings compared to the three-year plan shared at our May 2022 Analyst Day.

As a result of these actions, we now expect to achieve key financial milestones approximately 2 years sooner than previously anticipated in our three-year plan:

• Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to increase to 66% in FY2023 with an exit margin of 67%. Creative Subscriptions non-GAAP gross margin is expected to reach 80% in FY2023
• Non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be down to 59-60% of revenue for FY2023 – a level previously anticipated for FY2025
• More than $100 million of non-GAAP operating income and positive non-GAAP net income expected in FY2023 – targets previously anticipated for late-FY2024
• Positive GAAP operating income and net income expected for FY2025 – targets previously anticipated beyond the three-year horizon
• Partners business expected to generate positive FCF by mid-FY2024 – more than a year ahead of our three-year plan shared in May 2022

With increased efficiency across our business as well as improved technological capabilities achieved over the last couple of years, we made the difficult decision to rightsize the organization to meet current demand needs. As a result, we heavy-heartedly parted ways with approximately 370 of our employees last week, or nearly 7% of our total workforce. This reduction primarily occurred across our Customer Care team, which we were able to realign without sacrificing the level and quality of service provided to our users.

This headcount reduction, in addition to the efficiency efforts and savings implemented throughout 2022, will bring our total headcount from nearly 6,100 at the end of Q1'22 to roughly 5,200 at the end of this process, reflecting a 15% decrease.

Success in Evolving our Marketing Strategy

As mentioned last quarter, in September we began tests to adjust our marketing approach to focus on higher-intent users. We accelerated this testing throughout Q4, and in doing so, we reduced investment in acquisition marketing in the quarter by nearly 50% compared to the previous year.

The results were outstanding. Despite reducing acquisition marketing spend by 50%, we have seen stable new cohort bookings.

We believe the driver of this success is the strength of our brand. Our investments in building a global, scaled brand over the past 15 years have made Wix synonymous with relevant general keywords on the internet. So when people are searching for a "website builder", for example, they are actually searching for Wix.

Based on these phenomenal results, we plan to continue executing this new marketing strategy and expect investment in acquisition marketing to remain at these reduced levels throughout 2023. We also plan to shift dollars to invest more into our brand going forward in order to drive future growth. We will continue developing plans throughout 1H23 for this new marketing strategy and expect brand marketing investment to be higher in 2H23. We currently estimate this increased brand marketing investment to be roughly 3-4% of revenue in 2H23. With this evolution of our marketing strategy, we still expect lower sales and marketing expenses in 2023 compared to 2022 as our efficiency improves from this new strategy.

Q4 2022 Financial Results

• Total revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $355.0 million, up 6% y/y
• Total revenue on a y/y constant currency basis was $361.4 million, up 8% y/y
• Creative Subscriptions revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $265.3 million, up 8% y/y
• Creative Subscriptions ARR increased to $1.08 billion, up 7% y/y
• Business Solutions revenue in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $89.8 million, up 3% y/y
• Transaction revenue3 was $38.9 million, up 8% y/y
• Partners revenue4 in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $94.6 million, up 23% y/y
• Total bookings in the fourth quarter of 2022 were $371.8 million, up 6% y/y
• Total bookings on a y/y constant currency basis were $385.8 million, up 10% y/y
• Creative Subscriptions bookings in the fourth quarter of 2022 were $281.8 million , up 7% y/y
• Business Solutions bookings in the fourth quarter of 2022 were $90.0 million, up 3% y/y
• Total gross margin on a GAAP basis in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 64%
• Creative Subscriptions gross margin on a GAAP basis was 78%
• Business Solutions gross margin on a GAAP basis was 22%
• Total non-GAAP gross margin in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 65%
• Creative Subscriptions gross margin on a non-GAAP basis was 79%
• Business Solutions gross margin on a non-GAAP basis was 24%
• GAAP net loss in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $(39.0) million, or $(0.67) per share
• Non-GAAP net income in the fourth quarter of 2022 was $35.6 million, or $0.61 per share
• Net cash provided by operating activities for the fourth quarter of 2022 was $53.2 million, while capital expenditures totaled $14.6 million, leading to free cash flow of $38.6 million
• Excluding the capex investment associated with our new headquarters office build out, free cash flow for the fourth quarter of 2022 would have been $52.0 million
• Executed $243 million in repurchases of ordinary shares2, or approximately 5% of total shares outstanding, under Board-authorized $300 million share repurchase program

FY 2022 Financial Results

• Total revenue for the full year 2022 was $1.39 billion, up 9% y/y
• Total revenue on a y/y constant currency basis was $1.40 billion, up 11% y/y
• Creative Subscriptions revenue for the full year 2022 was $1.04 billion, up 9% y/y
• Business Solutions revenue for the full year 2022 was $348.2 million, up 9% y/y
• Transaction revenue3 for the full year was $148.2 million, up 14% y/y
• Partners revenue4 for the full year 2022 was $348.2 million, up 29% y/y
• Total bookings for the full year 2022 were $1.47 billion, up 4% y/y
• Total bookings on a y/y constant currency basis were $1.52 billion, up 7% y/y
• Creative Subscriptions bookings for the full year 2022 were $1.12 billion , up 3% y/y
• Business Solutions bookings for the full year 2022 were $350.7 million, up 6% y/y
• Total gross margin on a GAAP basis for the full year 2022 was 62%
• Creative Subscriptions gross margin on a GAAP basis was 76%
• Business Solutions gross margin on a GAAP basis was 21%
• Total non-GAAP gross margin for the full year 2022 was 64%
• Creative Subscriptions gross margin on a non-GAAP basis was 77%
• Business Solutions gross margin on a non-GAAP basis was 23%
• GAAP net loss for the full year 2022 was $(424.9) million, or $(7.33) per share
• Non-GAAP net loss for the full year 2022 was $(10.0) million, or $(0.17) per share
• Net cash provided by operating activities for the full year 2022 was $37.2 million, while capital expenditures totaled $70.7 million, leading to free cash flow of $(33.5) million
• Excluding the capex investment associated with our new headquarters office build out, free cash flow for the full year 2022 would have been $32.4 million
• Added 96 thousand net premium subscriptions in full year 2022 to reach nearly 6.1 million as of December 31, 2022, a 2% increase over the total number of premium subscriptions at December 31, 2021
• Registered users as of December 31, 2022 were 243 million, representing a 10% increase compared to December 31, 2021
• Total employee headcount as of December 31, 2022 of 5,516, including 152 part time employees, down 7% y/y

Financial Outlook

We are encouraged by the strong fundamentals of our business.

Assuming no deterioration in the macro environment, we expect total revenue in Q1'23 to be $367-$371 million, representing approximately 7-9% y/y growth.

For the full year, we expect total revenue to be $1,510 - $1,535 million, representing approximately 9 - 11% y/y growth.

Our focus in 2023 will continue to be on driving cost efficiencies across the business while innovating industry-first products for our users. As a result of the $50 million of incremental cost savings expected in 2023 (~$65 million on an annualized basis), we anticipate profitability to accelerate compared to the three-year plan outlined at our Analyst Day in May 2022.

Non-GAAP gross margin is expected to increase to ~66% for the full year 2023 with an exit margin of ~67%. This improvement will be driven by increases in gross margin to Creative Subscriptions, which we expect will be ~80% and Business Solutions, which we expect to be ~27% in 2023.

Non-GAAP operating expenses are expected to be slightly down y/y to 59-60% of revenue for full year 2023 as operational efficiencies from our cost reduction efforts materialize.

We expect depreciation expenses of approximately $17 - $19 million, non-HQ related capex of approximately $8 - $9 million and HQ-related capex of $50 - $55 million for full year 2023. Due to the timing of vendor payments associated with the buildout of our headquarters, we now anticipate HQ-related capex of $5 - 10 million in 2024 following the completion of the project in late 2023. The total cost associated with the buildout of our headquarters remains ~$150 million, unchanged from prior expectations.

As a result, free cash flow excluding HQ investments is expected to be roughly $152 - $162 million, or 10-11% of revenue in 2023. We expect free cash flow margin to improve as we progress through the year and exit 2023 with a free cash flow margin of ~12-13%, driven by the new efficiencies implemented in 1H23.

Finally, stock-based compensation is expected to decrease to 15% of revenue in 2023, down from 17% of revenue in 2022, as headcount across the organization declines. We expect stock-based compensation as a percentage of revenue to continue to decline y/y through 2025.

The accelerated profitability expected in 2023 will put us on the path to achieve the "Rule of 40" in 2025.

Conference Call and Webcast Information

Wix will host a conference call to discuss the results at 8:30 a.m. ET on Wednesday, February 22, 2023. To participate on the live call, analysts and investors should register and join at https://register.vevent.com/register/BI5eb72bdb2bf1417e924830624d187210. A replay of the call will be available through February 22, 2024 via the registration link.

Wix will also offer a live and archived webcast of the conference call, accessible from the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website at https://investors.wix.com/.

About Wix.com Ltd.

Wix is a leading platform to create, manage and grow a digital presence. What began as a website builder in 2006 is now a complete platform providing users with enterprise-grade performance, security and a reliable infrastructure. Offering a wide range of commerce and business solutions, advanced SEO and marketing tools, Wix enables users to take full ownership of their brand, their data and their relationships with their customers. With a focus on continuous innovation and delivery of new features and products, anyone can build a powerful digital presence to fulfill their dreams on Wix.

For more about Wix, please visit our Press Room

Investor Relations:
ir@wix.com

Media Relations:
pr@wix.com

Non-GAAP Financial Measures and Key Operating Metrics

To supplement its consolidated financial statements, which are prepared and presented in accordance with U.S. GAAP, Wix uses the following non-GAAP financial measures: bookings, cumulative cohort bookings, bookings on a constant currency basis, revenue on a constant currency basis, non-GAAP gross margin, non-GAAP operating income (loss), non-GAAP operating margin, non-GAAP net income (loss), non-GAAP net income (loss) per share, free cash flow, free cash flow, as adjusted, free cash flow margins, non-GAAP R&D expenses, non-GAAP S&M expenses, non-GAAP G&A expenses, non-GAAP operating expenses, non-GAAP cost of revenue expense, non-GAAP financial expense, non-GAAP tax expense (collectively the "Non-GAAP financial measures"). Measures presented on a constant currency or foreign exchange neutral basis have been adjusted to exclude the effect of y/y changes in foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. Bookings is a non-GAAP financial measure calculated by adding the change in deferred revenues and the change in unbilled contractual obligations for a particular period to revenues for the same period. Bookings include cash receipts for premium subscriptions purchased by users as well as cash we collect from business solutions, as well as payments due to us under the terms of contractual agreements for which we may have not yet received payment. Cash receipts for premium subscriptions are deferred and recognized as revenues over the terms of the subscriptions. Cash receipts for payments and the majority of the additional products and services (other than Google Workspace) are recognized as revenues upon receipt. Committed payments are recognized as revenue as we fulfill our obligation under the terms of the contractual agreement. Non-GAAP gross margin represents gross profit calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization, divided by revenue. Non-GAAP operating income (loss) represents operating income (loss) calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, amortization, acquisition-related expenses and sales tax expense accrual and other G&A expenses (income). Non-GAAP net income (loss) represents net loss calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, amortization, sales tax expense accrual and other G&A expenses (income), amortization of debt discount and debt issuance costs and acquisition-related expenses and non-operating foreign exchange expenses (income). Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share represents non-GAAP net income (loss) divided by the weighted average number of shares used in computing GAAP loss per share. Free cash flow represents net cash provided by (used in) operating activities less capital expenditures. Free cash flow, as adjusted, represents free cash flow further adjusted to exclude capital expenditures associated with our new headquarters. Free cash flow margins represent free cash flow divided by revenue. Non-GAAP cost of revenue represents cost of revenue calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP R&D expenses represent R&D expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP S&M expenses represent S&M expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP G&A expenses represent G&A expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP operating expenses represent operating expenses calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for the impact of share-based compensation expense, acquisition-related expenses and amortization. Non-GAAP financial expense represents financial expense calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for unrealized gains of equity investments, amortization of debt discount and debt issuance costs and non-operating foreign exchange expenses. Non-GAAP tax expense represents tax expense calculated in accordance with GAAP as adjusted for provisions for income tax effects related to non-GAAP adjustments.

The presentation of this financial information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, the financial information prepared and presented in accordance with GAAP. The Company uses these non-GAAP financial measures for financial and operational decision making and as a means to evaluate period-to-period comparisons. The Company believes that these measures provide useful information about operating results, enhance the overall understanding of past financial performance and future prospects, and allow for greater transparency with respect to key metrics used by management in its financial and operational decision making.

For more information on the non-GAAP financial measures, please see the reconciliation tables provided below. The accompanying tables have more details on the GAAP financial measures that are most directly comparable to non-GAAP financial measures and the related reconciliations between these financial measures. The Company is unable to provide reconciliations of free cash flow, free cash flow, as adjusted, cumulative cohort bookings, non-GAAP gross margin, and non-GAAP tax expense to their most directly comparable GAAP financial measures on a forward-looking basis without unreasonable effort because items that impact those GAAP financial measures are out of the Company's control and/or cannot be reasonably predicted. Such information may have a significant, and potentially unpredictable, impact on our future financial results.

Wix also uses Creative Subscriptions Annualized Recurring Revenue (ARR) as a key operating metric. Creative Subscriptions ARR is calculated as Creative Subscriptions Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) multiplied by 12. Creative Subscriptions MRR is calculated as the total of (i) all active Creative Subscriptions in effect on the last day of the period, multiplied by the monthly revenue of such Creative Subscriptions, other than domain registrations in effect on the last day of the period; (ii) the average revenue per month from domain registrations; (iii) monthly revenue from other partnership agreements.

Forward-Looking Statements

This document contains forward-looking statements, within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. Such forward-looking statements may include projections regarding our future performance, including, but not limited to revenue, bookings and free cash flow, and may be identified by words like "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "aim," "forecast," "indication," "continue," "could," "estimate," "expect," "intend," "may," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "outlook," "future," "will," "seek" and similar terms or phrases. The forward-looking statements contained in this document, including the quarterly and annual guidance, are based on management's current expectations, which are subject to uncertainty, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict and many of which are outside of our control. Important factors that could cause our actual results to differ materially from those indicated in the forward-looking statements include, among others, our expectation that we will be able to attract and retain registered users and generate new premium subscriptions; our expectation that we will be able to increase the revenue we derive from the sale of premium subscriptions and business solutions, through our partners; our expectation that new products and developments, as well as third-party products we will offer in the future within our platform, will receive customer acceptance and satisfaction, including the growth in market adoption of our online commerce solutions; our assumption that historical user behavior can be extrapolated to predict future user behavior; our expectations regarding execution of our multi-year strategic plan and cost reduction plan; our prediction of the future revenues generated by our user cohorts and our ability to maintain and increase such revenue growth; our expectation to maintain and enhance our brand and reputation; and thereby increase user retention, user engagement and sales; our expectation that our products created for markets outside of North America will continue to generate growth in those markets; our plans to successfully localize our products, including by making our product, support and communication channels available in additional languages and to expand our payment infrastructure to transact in additional local currencies and accept additional payment methods; our expectations regarding the extent of the impact on our business and operations of the COVID-19 pandemic, including uncertainty relating to expected consumer dynamics after the COVID-19 pandemic subsides, the effectiveness of government policies, vaccine administration rates and other factors; our expectation regarding the impact of fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates on our business; our expectations relating to the repurchase of our ordinary shares and/or Convertible Notes pursuant to our repurchase program; our expectation that we will effectively manage the growth of our infrastructure; changes we expect may occur to technologies used in our solutions; our expectations regarding the outcome of any regulatory investigation or litigation, including class actions; our expectations regarding future changes in our cost of revenues and our operating expenses on an absolute basis and as a percentage of our revenues, as well as our ability to achieve profitability; our expectations regarding changes in the global, national, regional or local economic, business, competitive, market, and regulatory landscape, including as a result of increasing interest rates and inflationary pressures, lasting effects of COVID-19, and as a result of the military invasion of Ukraine by Russia; our planned level of capital expenditures and our belief that our existing cash and cash from operations will be sufficient to fund our operations for at least the next 12 months and for the foreseeable future; our expectations with respect to the integration and performance of acquisitions; our ability to attract and retain qualified employees and key personnel; our expectations about entering into new markets and attracting new customer demographics, including our ability to successfully attract new partners and grow our partner activities as anticipated and other factors discussed under the heading "Risk Factors" in the Company's annual report on Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2021 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on April 1, 2022. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this press release speaks only as of the date hereof. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise.

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SOURCE Wix.com Ltd.