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- đ° 5 Fact Friday: Figma Jumps 250% At IPO
đ° 5 Fact Friday: Figma Jumps 250% At IPO
Figma made its public debut yesterday, and it didnât disappoint. The design software company priced its IPO at $33 per share, above its initial $30â$32 range, and raised about $1.2B in the process. Then came the fireworks...
Good morning, Maniacs!
What a week, and I mean that in the âeverything happened at onceâ kind of way.
We got fresh economic data with GDP coming in hotter than expected, inflation refusing to budge, and a brand-new jobs report hitting this morning.
There were big deals, too: Union Pacific is buying Norfolk Southern in an $85B megamerger that will create Americaâs first transcontinental freight railroad. And Figma? It pulled off one of the hottest IPOs of the year.
And if that wasnât enough, earnings season brought fireworks: Robinhood ripped, the Ozempic maker shed a few pounds, and four of the five largest U.S. companies reported.
Oh, and President Trump spent the week firing off âtruthsâ, from tariff deadlines to drug price demands, keeping markets on edge.
Letâs dive in! đ
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STOCKS
1. Figma Jumps 250% At IPO đ¨
Figma $FIG ( Ⲡ250.0% ) made its public debut yesterday, and it didnât disappoint.
The design software company priced its IPO at $33 per share, above its initial $30â$32 range, and raised about $1.2B in the process.
Then came the fireworks:
Opened at $85, more than 150% above the IPO price
Closed at $116, giving it a market cap of $47B
That kind of first day leaves one big question: how did we get here?
The Google Docs of Design
Figma makes browser-based design tools used by 13M monthly active users, from hobbyists to more than 95% of the Fortune 500.
Itâs the go-to platform for âmulti-playerâ design and a direct rival to Adobeâs âsingle-playerâ Photoshop. Its suite includes:
Real-time editing (like Google Docs)
Dev Mode for developer collaboration
AI-powered tools, like Figma Make, which turns prompts into prototypes
From Blocked Buyout to Market Darling
Back in 2022, Adobe made a $20B bid for Figma. By 2023, regulators had killed the deal, calling it anticompetitive.
While that shut the door on a buyout, Figma pocketed a $1B breakup fee. Going public became its only real path to liquidity.
Now, less than three years later, Figma is worth nearly 2.5x Adobeâs offer, a massive vote of (over?)confidence from investors.
The IPO âPop Taxâ
Of course, such a huge one-day pop raises questions. Pricing at $50 below where shares opened, banks clearly missed the mark.
Founders, employees, and early investors left money on the table. CEO Dylan Field alone sold 2.35M shares at $33, theoretically missing out on an extra $100M+.
Bank clients who got IPO allocations made a killing. However, the deal was 40x oversubscribed, meaning allocations were small.
Retail investors who bought at the open still walked away with a quick two-hour gain of 36%.
A Sign of the Times
Figmaâs red-hot debut is the latest in a string of blockbuster IPOs (see Circle and CoreWeave), a sign that risk appetite is roaring back.
In the short term, these pops are exciting. In the medium term? They might be a warning sign that markets are getting frothy.
ECONOMY
2. The Accounting Noise Behind 3% GDP Growth đ¤
The U.S. economy grew at an annualized 3% in Q2, beating the 2.3% estimate and rebounding sharply from Q1âs 0.5% contraction.
On paper, thatâs great! In reality? The story is a little more complicated.
Hereâs what actually happened:
Imports tanked. GDP subtracts imports from growth. In Q1, businesses stockpiled goods (imports +38%) ahead of Trumpâs tariffs, dragging that reading down. In Q2, they worked through those inventories (imports -30%) instead of buying more. That whiplash made Q1 look worse and Q2 look better than either really was.
Consumers kept spending. Personal consumption rose 1.4%. Thatâs not exactly âroaring,â but wallets are still open despite high borrowing costs.
GDP = Consumption + Investment + Government Spending + Exports - Imports
In other words, this GDP âboomâ isnât really a boom. Itâs accounting noise from inventory swings.
And hereâs the kicker: that inventory drawdown supports the Fedâs fear that more price hikes could be coming. Which brings us to inflationâŚ
Stuck in Neutral
The Fedâs favorite gauge, core PCE (which strips out food and energy), came in at 2.8% in June. The overall PCE rate was 2.6%.
Thatâs essentially unchanged since May of last year.
On one hand, thereâs been no progress toward the Fedâs 2% goal. On the other? The 1% worth of rate cuts last fall and months of new tariffs havenât reignited inflation either.
Enter the Fed
With inflation treading water and tariff effects likely still coming, the Fed kept rates steady Wednesday. Powell wants to keep policy restrictive until inflation finally heads lower.
But the vote wasnât unanimous.
For the first time in over a decade, two members dissented and pushed for cuts. That split shows just how murky the economic picture has gotten.
The Big Picture
Weâre looking at a slow-but-steady economy growing around 2%. No recession, no overheating, just business as usual.
In other words: nothing to panic overâbut plenty to keep worrying about.
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ECONOMY
3. New Deals Emerge Ahead Of Tariff Deadline đ¤
The 90âday tariff pause was set to expire today, prompting a flurry of lastâminute dealâmaking in Washington. But yesterday evening, President Trump extended the start date on most new tariffs to August 7 and formally authorized 10% to 40% duties on nearly every trading partner.
Resolved
European Union: The EU agreed to a 15% baseline tariff on most goods (down from a threatened 30-50%). Plus, the EU will invest $600B in the U.S. and buy $750B in American energy over three years.
South Korea: Tariffs are set at 15% (avoiding a planned 25%), with Seoul pledging $350B in U.S. investments and $100B in energy purchases.
Pakistan: Tariffs were reduced from a possible 29%. Pakistan secured expanded U.S. investment opportunities in oil, mining, IT, and crypto.
Unresolved
India: Negotations have stalled. Trump imposed a 25% tariff on Indian imports and threatened additional penalties if India continues purchasing Russian oil
Brazil: Facing a 50% tariff on imports starting Aug. 7, though aircraft, fertilizers, and some metals are exempt. Brazilâs government has vowed to retaliate.
Mexico: Trump granted a 90-day extension for talks, keeping its tariff rate at 25% after a âvery successfulâ call with President Claudia Sheinbaum.
China: Beijing has until Aug. 12 to reach an agreement, with Treasury officials saying a deal is âcloseâ but still unresolved.
Canada: Tariffs will jump to 35% effective today, under a new order tied to anti-drug enforcement.
In The Mix
50% tariffs on copper products (not raw copper), which sent U.S. copper futures down 20%.
The end of the de minimis exemption for sub-$800 shipments, often blamed for contributing to the fentanyl epidemic.
New 40% penalty tariffs for goods deemed âtransshippedâ to evade duties.
Whatâs next? More negotiations, more headlines, and likely more market volatility.
STOCKS
4. Most Important Earnings Of The Week đ
Four of the Magnificent 7, which also happen to be four of the five largest U.S. companies, reported earnings this week.
Why does it matter? Together, these four giants make up 20% of the S&P 500. In other words, their results can move markets (and your portfolio, even if you just own index funds).
Meta
$META ( Ⲡ11.25% ) crushed expectations with 22% revenue growth to $47.5B and earnings of $7.14 per share. The company poured $17B into data centers this quarter and still expects to spend $66-72B for the year. Management warned that expenses will climb even higher in 2026 as it keeps poaching recruiting top technical talent.
But AI isnât just a cost center. Itâs also a growth engine. Smarter algorithms are matching content to users more effectively, pushing ad prices higher and boosting engagement. Time spent on Facebook and Instagram rose 5% and 6%.
And CEO Mark Zuckerberg? Heâs thinking even bigger, saying that superintelligence (AI beyond human capabilities) is ânow in sight.â Investors loved it. Shares jumped 11% Thursday.
Microsoft
$MSFT ( Ⲡ3.95% ) just keeps printing. Revenue grew 18%, powered by a 39% surge in Azure (cloud), which now brings in over $75B annually. Capex was a hefty $24B this quarter and is set to smash records at $30B next quarter as AI demand keeps accelerating.
The company even briefly crossed a $4T valuation, joining Nvidia in that exclusive club. Management said itâs renegotiating its OpenAI deal while doubling down on building its own models. Shares climbed 4% Thursday.
Apple
$AAPL ( âź 0.71% ) beat expectations with $94B in revenue and earnings of $1.57 per share. iPhone sales came in hot at $44B, while iPads and Wearables slipped. Services revenue keeps chugging along, now at $27.4B.
But there are a few clouds brewing overhead. Googleâs antitrust case could jeopardize a $20B revenue stream for Apple. President Trump has threatened a 25% tariff on iPhones unless Apple moves production to America. Plus, the company continues to lag in the AI race.
Despite the concerns, shares rose 2% after the report.
Amazon
$AMZN ( Ⲡ1.7% ) posted $167.7B in revenue and earnings of $1.68 per share, beating expectations. Retail sales were strong at $61.4B thanks to resilient consumer demand.
AWS revenue came in at $30.8B, falling short of the growth seen in Google and Microsoftâs cloud segments. Althought management raised Q3 revenue forecasts, shares fell 6% after the report.
STOCKS
5. Guess That Stock đľď¸ââď¸
This company made one of the most talked-about drugs of the decade, but a brutal earnings warning just sent its stock into freefall.
Can you guess the stock?
It created Ozempic and Wegovy, the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs that once made it Europeâs most valuable company.
It also produces half the worldâs insulin supply.
At its peak, its market cap crossed $600B. That made the Danish company bigger than its home countryâs GDP.
The 100-year-old company now faces fierce competition from Eli Lillyâs Zepbound and a flood of compounded copycat drugs.
On Tuesday, it slashed its 2025 sales outlook, sending shares plunging 22%. The stock is now down nearly 70% from its peak last June.
Got a guess? Tap here for the answer â
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