Figma sheds US$11 billion in market value days after blockbuster IPO

[NEW YORK] Shares of Figma slumped 23 per cent on profit taking on Monday (Aug 4), as euphoria over the design software firm waned days after its blockbuster initial public offering (IPO).

San Francisco, California-based Figma shares had scored a massive 250 per cent gain during their market debut on Thursday when they were priced at US$33 but finished at US$115.50, giving the company a market capitalisation of about US$56.3 billion.

Figma’s market value closed at US$59.5 billion on Friday after its shares rose 5.6 per cent to US$122. The shares traded as low as US$92.75 on Monday, down 23 per cent, reducing its market value to about US$45.2 billion.

“The excitement for Figma’s business is not over, but the euphoria that’s gone into its heady stock pricing seems to be deflating as those that wanted an early piece of the action bought in during market hours while some IPO recipients are probably taking sweet profits,” said Michael Ashley Schulman, chief investment officer at Running Point Capital in Los Angeles.

Founded in 2012 and led by CEO Dylan Field, Figma provides cloud-based collaborative design tools, with a roster of marquee clients including Alphabet, Microsoft, Netflix and Uber.

Field owns about 54.2 million Figma shares worth about US$5 billion after selling 2.35 million shares in the IPO. As is common in many Silicon Valley startups, Field retains 74.1 per cent voting power over Figma given his holdings of Class B shares.

Adobe had abandoned a US$20 billion deal to acquire Figma in 2023 following antitrust pushback from regulators in Europe and the UK.

“With Figma at a US$46 billion market capitalisation, Adobe’s failed buyout offer must now seem like a distant memory,” Schulman added. REUTERS