Figma has a fix for its ailing stock - a new way to make money off its AI products

By Hannah Pedone

Figma's stock soars after earnings beat expectations again, and the full-year outlook is raised

Shares of Figma soared late Thursday after an earnings beat and raised outlook.

Shares of Figma shot higher late Thursday, after the design-software company extended its streak of earnings beats, and provided upbeat guidance to boot.

That came as a welcome surprise to investors, who have suffered through a tough year amid concerns over how artificial intelligence would eat away at the software industry.

And Figma CFO Praveer Melwani told MarketWatch that the company's growing AI product line and early signs of success in the company's new AI credit-monetization program are giving management confidence to raise its revenue outlook for the year.

The stock (FIG) jumped 11.8% toward a two-month high in after-hours trading.

Figma's first-quarter revenue grew 46% from a year ago to $333 million, beating the average analyst estimate compiled by FactSet of $316 million.

The company reported adjusted earnings per share of 10 cents, up from 3 cents last year and above the FactSet EPS consensus of 6 cents.

Figma issued second-quarter revenue guidance in the range of $348 million to $350 million and raised its full-year outlook to a range of $1.422 billion to $1.428 billion. Analysts were projecting $330 million for the second quarter and $1.371 billion for the full year.

See also: These smaller tech stocks are punching well above their weight

Even as Figma has beaten earnings expectations for every quarter since it went public in July 2025, shares have dropped 45.8% so far this year, on fears that AI will replace traditional software. That compares with a 14.2% decline in the iShares Expanded Tech-Software Sector ETF IGV and the S&P 500 index's SPX 9.6% gain.

But CFO Melwani believes there's a fix.

In mid-March, Figma started enforcing AI credit limits as a way to monetize its AI tools. "We learned a lot through that March 18th day when we were actually flipping on AI credit monetization," Melwani said.

He said that users' willingness to pay on the other side of the rollout was "a little bit of an unknown."

Over 75% of users of Figma's Organization and Enterprise plans who had previously exceeded AI credit limits continued to use AI credits after the implementation of the program.

Melwani also said that new AI tools and products, like the company's new Model Context Protocol server, which allows AI agents to interact with data sources, have been converting customers up to paid subscriptions.

He said he's also excited about the company's new AI assistant that "effectively lives as an agent next to you in the canvas."

The company reported a net dollar retention rate of 139%, up from 136% the previous quarter and the highest rate in over two years.

AI investments may be keeping the company's margins under pressure, however. Figma expects 2026 non-GAAP operating margin of 9% at the midpoint, down from 12% in 2025.

Read more: Software stocks are finally priced for a comeback, this veteran strategist says. He's buying.

-Hannah Pedone

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05-14-26 2015ET