On its February 9, 2026 earnings call, monday.com disclosed two specific headwinds that it had built into its 2026 guidance: persistent weakness in its “no-touch” performance marketing channel serving small and medium businesses, and a 100–200 basis point foreign exchange drag driven by Israeli shekel appreciation. CFO Eliran Glazer stated that the 2026 guidance “doesn’t assume any rebound in performance marketing or top-of-funnel activity” and is “based on current conditions.”
The no-touch SMB channel has been a recurring concern. In Q2 FY2025, management attributed a revenue headwind to temporary web-traffic softness caused by Google search algorithm changes, and the stock fell 26%. In Q3 FY2025, the stock fell 19% on a similar guidance miss. By the February 9 call, management acknowledged that the no-touch weakness was not temporary but structural, stating it does not believe no touch channels will exit their “choppy demand environment” in 2026. The question is when management first recognized this shift from a temporary disruption to a persistent headwind, and whether prior disclosures adequately reflected that evolution.
Separately, monday.com is increasing investment in AI products – including Monday Vibe, Monday Sidekick, and Monday Agents – which management cited as requiring incremental spending. The company guided gross margins to decline from 90% to the mid-to-high 80s in FY2026, attributed in part to AI infrastructure costs. R&D spending rose from 17% to 19% of revenue in FY2025, and management guided for mid-teens percentage headcount growth in FY2026 concentrated in sales and R&D. These investments reduce near-term profitability while the revenue contribution from AI products remains early-stage – Monday Vibe reached $1 million in ARR, a small fraction of the company’s $1.2 billion annual revenue base.
The combination of no-touch channel deterioration, FX headwinds, rising AI investment costs, and the withdrawal of 2027 financial targets collectively explain the deceleration from 27% to 18–19% guided growth. Investors are evaluating whether these headwinds were known to management earlier than they were communicated to the market.
Monday.com’s stock fell 13–14% on February 9, 2026, extending its decline to approximately 70% from its 52-week highs.
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