monday.com's AI, R&D and product leaders are leaving; analysts still target $111.70 on a $90.37 stock
monday.com is betting its future on an AI-first platform, and the executives who lead that platform, its R&D and its product are all leaving within a month. The street still prices the pivot at $111.70 a share; the stock trades at $90.37.
Vincent Jiang · 5 min read
The pivot's architects are walking out
Orly Stern Izhaki runs monday.com's−4.10% — monday.com, down 4.10 percent today AI Work Platform. That is the job title the company created for the product it says is its future: a workspace where employees and AI agents share tasks. She is expected to leave within the month, along with the vice president of research and development, the vice president of product, and a senior IT director of six years. They follow an R&D vice president who left in September 1. The company said the moves mix management decisions with personal choices by executives about their future paths 1.
20% of staff out, $45 million to $55 million in net costs
The restructuring these executives were meant to carry was announced in July. About 20% of the workforce, an estimated 620 to 630 people, with net costs of $45 million to $55 million and completion targeted by end of 2026 1. Co-founder and co-CEO Eran Zinman told employees at the time the move "was not made to reduce costs or replace people with AI", positioning it as adapting the organization to an AI-first vision 3.
Revenue is still climbing, but growth is slowing
Data
| Revenue | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '24 | 216.9 |
| Q2 '24 | 236.1 |
| Q3 '24 | 251 |
| Q4 '24 | 268 |
| Q1 '25 | 282.3 |
| Q2 '25 | 299 |
| Q3 '25 | 316.9 |
| Q4 '25 | 333.9 |
| Q1 '26 | 351.3 |
| Q2 '26 | 364.6 |
The stated strategy, and the signs that undercut it
The complication is that the calendar argues with the strategy. The July announcement said the pivot would let monday.com "continue investing in strategic areas related to artificial intelligence" 1. One quarter later the executives who lead artificial intelligence, R&D and product are exiting, and Zacks cut its rating to hold on October 16 2.
The financial records are not the problem. Second-quarter revenue came in at $364.6 million, up 21.9% year over year, beating estimates, with earnings per share of $1.48 against a $1.11 consensus 29. First-half revenue reached $715.9 million 1. Annual recurring revenue from AI products doubled from the first quarter and contributed 17% of net-new annual recurring revenue in the quarter 1. The company added 287 enterprise customers paying more than $50,000 a year, to 4,834 total 6.
AI is 17% of net-new ARR, roughly 1% of the total
The records that bother the sellers are the other ones. Growth has decelerated for nine straight quarters, from 34% in mid-2024 to 21.9% in the second quarter 9. The company booked $21.4 million of restructuring expense in the first half 1. Barclays−0.09% — Barclays, down 0.09 percent today, which downgraded the stock on October 12, noted AI is now 17% of net-new annual recurring revenue but roughly 1% of total ARR, "not large enough to slow the deceleration in its core business", while net dollar retention heads toward 108% 4. J.P. Morgan+1.11% — J.P. Morgan, up 1.11 percent today had downgraded the shares on September 29 on headwinds to net-new ARR "in the immediate aftermath of a 20% RIF", with net dollar retention easing from 110% to 109% and sales cycles lengthening as customers weigh frontier-model alternatives 8. Yahoo Finance's Q2 sweep noted the company delivered the weakest guidance update among the 16 productivity software names it tracks 6.
Nine straight quarters of slower growth
Data
| Revenue growth, % year over year | |
|---|---|
| Q1 '24 | 33.7 |
| Q2 '24 | 34.4 |
| Q3 '24 | 32.7 |
| Q4 '24 | 32.3 |
| Q1 '25 | 30.1 |
| Q2 '25 | 26.6 |
| Q3 '25 | 26.2 |
| Q4 '25 | 24.6 |
| Q1 '26 | 24.5 |
| Q2 '26 | 21.9 |
The bulls have the earnings; the bears have the calendar
The strongest counterpoint is real: the business is growing 22% while cutting 20% of its staff, which is the arithmetic of a leaner operating model, and Zacks had upgraded the stock to strong buy on October 14, two days after Barclays cut, on a 47.3% rise in consensus earnings estimates over three months 5. Twelve analysts still rate the stock a buy 2. Renaissance Technologies raised its stake by 93% in the first quarter 2.
The stock has already voted
But the strongest counterpoint does not resolve the calendar. On July 25 TechCrunch recorded that Financial Times analysis found companies citing AI in job cuts underperformed the Nasdaq by almost 10% in the 30 trading days after their announcements 3. monday.com's own tape fits the pattern: $90.37 close, down 37% this year and about half its value over twelve months 2. The market has heard the pivot-before-profit story all year, across a list running from Salesforce−2.94% — Salesforce, down 2.94 percent today to Block, and it is now pricing monday.com as a company whose growth engine needs AI to work before the leadership that is building AI can finish the job 3.
What decides it
The street's average target sits at $111.70, 24% above the tape 2. That gap closes in one of two directions. If the fourth-quarter report, due in early 2027, shows AI ARR still doubling and net dollar retention stabilizing, the bulls own it. If the departures continue past the AI Work Platform's own vice president, the 620-630 who left in July will look like the opening round, not the whole cut. Watch the senior roster, not the guidance. The filings will confirm the revenue. The exits confirm the conviction.
Sources
1. Calcalist/CTech, "Monday faces senior management exits amid AI restructuring", October 17, 2026. 2. MarketBeat, "monday.com (NASDAQ:MNDY) Cut to Hold at Zacks Research", October 17, 2026. 3. TechCrunch, "Monday.com is the latest tech company to blame AI for layoffs", July 25, 2026. 4. Seeking Alpha, "HubSpot−3.96% — HubSpot, down 3.96 percent today and monday.com downgraded by Barclays on AI concerns", October 12, 2026. 5. Zacks Investment Research via MSN, "Monday.com (MNDY) upgraded to strong buy", October 14, 2026. 6. Yahoo Finance, "Q2 Earnings Highlights: monday.com vs productivity software peers", September 15, 2026. 7. Seeking Alpha, "monday.com Ltd. (MNDY) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript", August 10, 2026. 8. Seeking Alpha, "Monday.com slips as JPMorgan downgrades on growth challenges", September 29, 2026. 9. monday.com quarterly figures from SEC filings, retrieved October 18, 2026.
Deepdive
AI-generated from this story and its cited sources. Not investment advice.
