Figma’s upbeat outlook fails to stem margin worries as AI costs mount; shares slump
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Aug 5 : Figma on Wednesday reported a sharp rise in costs and a decline in profit margins as the design software company ramps up AI investments, triggering a 16 per cent slump in its shares in after-hours trading, despite a rosy annual revenue forecast.
The company left its full-year operating income forecast unchanged and said second-quarter profit was hit by higher marketing spend tied to its annual user conference, Config.
Known for its browser-based platform that allows design teams to collaborate in real time, Figma has leaned in hard on AI, embedding it across its portfolio to attract and retain more users.
Earlier this year, the company launched an AI agent directly within the Figma canvas that can execute a variety of tasks such as altering design layouts and executing multi-step workflows.
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While the efforts helped boost Figma’s June quarter revenue by 48 per cent to $370.1 million, above estimates of $351.6 million according to LSEG-compiled data, they pushed research and development costs 101.5 per cent higher, with total operating expenses nearly doubling to $426.9 million from last year.
On a sequential basis, Figma’s adjusted operating margin slid to 10 per cent from 16 per cent.
“While we’re seeing really strong momentum on the revenue side, we want to make sure that we’re really investing on the new product side to ensure we can create durable modes of growth over the long term,” Figma CFO Praveer Melwani told Reuters.
Figma said its new usage-based pricing model for AI credits, launched in March, will start to deliver stronger results in the latter part of 2026 and early into 2027.
Tools such as the Figma agent were driving new users to consume AI credits while prompting existing customers to deepen usage, the company said. It saw growth in both paid customer seats and AI credit add-ons in the quarter.
Figma now expects full-year revenue between $1.463 billion and $1.467 billion, up from its prior forecast of $1.422 billion to $1.428 billion, and ahead of analysts’ estimates of $1.44 billion.
Source: Reuters
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