Why Figma Stock Jumped 18% Friday Morning
Key Points
Figma's Q1 revenue rose 46% year over year to $333 million, beating Wall Street expectations.
CEO Dylan Field argues that human creativity remains essential even as AI tools proliferate.
The stock is still down 47% from its highs despite Friday's double-digit gain.
Shares of Figma (NYSE: FIG) soared on Friday thanks to an impressive Q1 2026 report. The collaborative design platform specialist's stock peaked at an 18.2% gain around 10:15 a.m. ET, then backed down for a while. It's coming on strong again in the afternoon. As of this writing at 2:20 p.m. ET, Figma is up by 15.4%.
AI is a tool, not a replacement
Figma's first-quarter revenue rose 46% year over year to $333 million. The bottom line more than tripled from adjusted earnings of $0.03 to $0.10 per diluted share. The Street consensus had called for earnings near $0.06 per share on sales in the vicinity of $316 million. Management set next-quarter and full-year revenue guidance targets well ahead of the current analyst projections.
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On the earnings call, CEO Dylan Field reminded Figma investors that artificial intelligence (AI) is a helpful tool for website and product designers, not a drop-in replacement of Figma's services.
"The companies that figure out how to harness human creativity alongside AI, those companies will define what the next era of software and creativity looks like," he said.
At the same time, designers must balance the power of AI tools against the budget crunch that follows from overusing them. Of course, Figma can help.
"If the first chapter was, 'oh gosh, we have to use AI' and the second chapter was, 'OK, leaderboards for token usage,' then the third chapter seems to be, 'let's put some limits on this because this is real spend,'" Field said. "We're striking the right balance on efficiencies so that our customers can use our product."
Image source: The Motley Fool.
The stock is down but not out
Friday's jump is a nice rebound, but Figma's stock is still way down from earlier highs. Stock prices have dropped 47% in six months as investors expected increasingly powerful AI platforms to undermine Figma's business.
Well, the Q1 results proved that designers still crave Figma's intuitive tools, with or without AI assistance. The stock isn't exactly cheap at 68 times forward earnings estimates, but that's still a massive discount from last summer's even loftier valuation. All told, I'm tempted to pick up some Figma stock before it takes off again. Field's analysis matches my own view that human expertise unlocks the true value in even the best AI systems.
Anders Bylund has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Figma. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.