Figma's hot IPO may open the door for more big software deals

Dow Jones
Jul 29

MW Figma's hot IPO may open the door for more big software deals

By Steve Gelsi

Figma may lead the way for Genesys, Canva and Databricks to conduct multibillion-dollar deals, analyst says

Figma Inc.'s hot initial public offering this week could set the stage for other multibillion-dollar IPOs in coming months, one Wall Street analyst said Monday.

Figma's IPO is expected to price late Wednesday and trade on Thursday, according to market sources, with plans to offer 36.94 million shares at an estimated price range of $30 to $32 a share for trading under the symbol "FIG" on the Nasdaq. In a bullish move, Figma on Monday upped its estimated price range from its earlier level of $25 to $28 a share.

Based on the $31-a-share midpoint of the upped estimate price range, the IPO from the San Francisco-based web-design company will raise about $1.15 billion. Those proceeds don't include an additional 5.54 million shares allotted to underwriters, which include Morgan Stanley, Goldman Sachs, Allen & Company and J.P. Morgan as the lead underwriters.

D.A. Davidson analyst Gil Luria sees Figma as "the right company" to persuade other large private software companies to enter the public markets, citing Figma's growth, profitability and technology in a Monday note to clients. He also thinks the company's listing will get a positive reception on the first day of trading.

"Investors have been starved of new entrants into public markets in recent years," Luria said. "With elongated timelines between capital raises and a liquidity event, these organizations have gotten fit."

Beyond Figma, three other software companies could be waiting in the wings, according to Luria: artificial-intelligence customer-service provider Genesys Cloud Services Inc., graphic-design-software maker Canva Pty Ltd. and data-analytics company Databricks Inc.

None of these companies have formally filed to go public yet. However, Genesys confidentially filed IPO paperwork last October, according to reports. All three companies have issued stock that only trades in private markets.

"Figma is part of a well-capitalized cohort of private software companies with the intent to go public at multi-billion-dollar valuations over the next few years," Luria said. "This comes after an elongated IPO window closure after a period of decelerating growth, budget constraints, and software stack optimizations."

One challenge for Figma and other software companies will be to show an ability to use artificial intelligence to help their respective businesses and not to be hurt by it.

On this front, Figma appears worthy, Luria said.

"Figma's growth trajectory is benefiting from the exponential growth of digital content and software being created by both individuals and enterprises," he said. "We believe Gen-AI further accelerates this trend, removing the technical barriers that previously limited users from creating applications and content."

Figma will have a total of 585 million outstanding shares on a fully diluted basis, for a market capitalization of about $18.1 billion at an IPO price of $31 a share.

The IPO comes less than two years after Figma agreed to scrap its acquisition by Adobe Inc. $(ADBE)$, its larger rival, in the face of regulatory concerns.

Also read: Figma files for an IPO. What investors should know about the Adobe design rival.

The IPO from Figma comes after several successful large IPOs this year, including AI data-center specialist CoreWeave Inc. (CRWV), stablecoin issuer Circle Internet Group Inc. $(CRCL.UK)$, online brokerage eToro Group Ltd. (ETOR) and online banking-services company Chime Financial Inc. $(CHYM)$.

-Steve Gelsi

This content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

July 28, 2025 12:56 ET (16:56 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2025 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.

At the request of the copyright holder, you need to log in to view this content

Disclaimer: Investing carries risk. This is not financial advice. The above content should not be regarded as an offer, recommendation, or solicitation on acquiring or disposing of any financial products, any associated discussions, comments, or posts by author or other users should not be considered as such either. It is solely for general information purpose only, which does not consider your own investment objectives, financial situations or needs. TTM assumes no responsibility or warranty for the accuracy and completeness of the information, investors should do their own research and may seek professional advice before investing.

Most Discussed

  1. 1
     
     
     
     
  2. 2
     
     
     
     
  3. 3
     
     
     
     
  4. 4
     
     
     
     
  5. 5
     
     
     
     
  6. 6
     
     
     
     
  7. 7
     
     
     
     
  8. 8
     
     
     
     
  9. 9
     
     
     
     
  10. 10