Shares of Figma, a developer of a service for the design of user interfaces, which for $20 billion wanted to buy Adobe, soared by 250% in the first trading after the IPO. This is a unique result for a company with a listing of this scale, analysts say. Figma's success has become a new positive signal for startups that have so far postponed going public amid volatility and trading uncertainty.

Details

At the end of the first trading session after the IPO NYSE on July 31, Figma shares rose by 250% to $115.5 per share. At the same time, trading began mid-day at $85 per share - and that was already 158% higher than the IPO price of $33, reports Yahoo Finance. And the IPO price was in turn higher than analysts' expectations, who were predicting a $30-32 per share offering based on the company's early guidance of $25-28. The company's market capitalization at the opening of trading exceeded $45 billion, and deals were even suspended for a while due to high volatility, Yahoo Finance adds.

Never before has a listed company with more than $500 million in shares ended its first day of trading up threefold, said Matthew Kennedy, an analyst at Renaissance Capital, who was quoted by MarketWatch. The previous record for first-day takeoff was set only two months ago after the debut of Circle Internet Group on June 5 (+168% for the day - more than double), and before that in 2000 by Palm (+150%), according to Kennedy.

Figma and its shareholders raised $1.2 billion in an IPO, placing 36.9 million shares. The company's valuation as a result of the listing was about $20 billion. Adobe had offered about that much for Figma in 2022, but the deal fell through due to antitrust claims, accounts Financial Times. The current value of Figma has significantly exceeded last year's value: at the time, the company was valued at $12.5 billion when employees sold their shares, the publication adds.

Early institutional investors such as venture capital funds Index Ventures, Iconiq Capital, Sequoia and Greenoaks will reap significant returns from Figma's IPO: some of them started investing in the company's shares in 2013, when they were worth 9 cents each, the FT noted.

What does that mean

Figma's IPO was a clear indication that investor interest in tech IPOs in 2025 remains strong, Yahoo Finance notes. The Dylan Field-led company made a strong debut on the stock exchange, continuing a successful streak of 2025 IPOs by players such as steblecoin issuer Circle and data center operator CoreWeave.

Figma's offering was closely followed by venture-backed startups, many of which have delayed going public since 2022 due to rising interest rates, market volatility and trading uncertainty. The success of recent offerings has re-energized the market, giving investment banks hope that deals will resume. For example, the Renaissance IPO index ended the second quarter up 20% after April's drawdown, Yahoo Finance notes, citing data from Renaissance Capital.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor

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