Nuix Ltd (ASX: NXL) shares are having a very tough time on Wednesday.

In morning trade, the ASX tech stock's shares were down as much as 27% to $5.51.

The investigative analytics and intelligence software provider's shares have recovered a touch since then but remain down 16% to $6.36 at the time of writing.

Why is this ASX tech stock crashing?

Investors have been rushing to the exits today after the company released an update at its annual general meeting.

At the event, the company's CEO, Jonathan Rubinsztein, reminded investors what it was hoping to achieve in FY 2025. He said:

At the FY24 full year results in August, we flagged the following strategic targets for the full year FY25: Targeting ~15% ACV growth in constant currency. Continued successful rollout of Nuix Neo. Revenue growth to exceed operating cost growth (excluding net non-operational legal costs). Underlying Cash Flow positive for the full year.

The good news is that the ASX stock continues to target these metrics for FY 2025. The bad news is that it seems apparent that its first half performance will be well short of them.

This appears to have sparked fears that the company is more likely to not deliver on these targets than it is to achieve them over the course of the full year. Rubinsztein adds:

We continue to execute on our strategy and I take the opportunity today to reiterate these targets. Nuix's sales are not linear over the course of the year, and our current expectations are that growth will be weighted towards the second half of the fiscal year.

He then concludes:

In closing, I want to acknowledge the hard work of the team who are driving this transformation. They are committed to execution of the strategy, with a particular focus on customer centricity. Thank you for your tremendous efforts over the year. I would also like to extend my thanks to my fellow Directors, to all of our stakeholders and particularly you, our shareholders. We are tremendously grateful for your support and look forward to delivering further innovation and growth.

Big returns

While today's decline is disappointing, shareholders aren't likely to be too downbeat.

That's because the ASX stock is still up over 300% since this time last year.

To put that into context, a $5,000 investment 12 months ago would now be worth over $20,000 even after today's sharp decline.