Investing.com -- Wix.com Ltd (NASDAQ: WIX) shares fell 16.71% Thursday after the web design platform reported fourth-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations.

The company posted earnings that fell short of analyst estimates by $0.54 per share, while revenue also came in below consensus forecasts. The disappointing results prompted a sharp selloff as investors reassessed the company's near-term prospects.

RBC analysts commented on the challenges facing the web design sector, noting they had already reduced their price targets on Wix and similar companies before the earnings release. "Coming into earnings, we'd taken our targets down significantly on WIX and GDDY, noting a clearer acknowledgment of the rising competitive risk from vibe coding (customer acquisition headwinds, churn, pricing pressure etc) and the simple logic of public investors becoming less and less willing to underwrite this type of terminal value risk given the incessant new LLM product rollouts. Based on today's report, that sentiment would seem more likely to continue," the analysts wrote.

The earnings miss comes as the company faces mounting competitive pressures in the website building market. The results underscore concerns about customer acquisition challenges and potential pricing pressure in the sector.

The sharp decline in Wix shares reflects investor concern about the company's ability to meet financial targets amid an evolving competitive landscape.