Figma Spikes 12% as AI Turns From Threat to Tailwind for Design Software, Atlassian Rallies 8%
Investors spent most of 2026 punishing design software names on fears that AI would hollow out their business models, but something shifted Thursday morning and Figma and Atlassian are suddenly leading the market higher.
Figma (NYSE:FIG) stock is up 12% to $30.27 Thursday morning, while Atlassian (NASDAQ:TEAM | TEAM Price Prediction) stock is climbing 8% to $181.71. Both names are riding a broader software bid as investors reassess artificial intelligence as a tailwind, rather than a structural threat, for design and collaboration platforms.
The Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) is up 1.08% to $719.07, so today’s leadership sits squarely inside the application-software corner. That corner has been punished for much of 2026 on fears that generative tools would compress seat counts and pricing power at incumbent design and productivity vendors.
Figma stock was down 28% year to date (YTD) through Wednesday’s close, so this rebound is coming off a severe derating. Atlassian stock, by contrast, was up 4% YTD through Wednesday’s close, meaning the two are catching the same bid from very different starting lines.
Design Software Catches an AI Bid
No company-specific catalyst has been verified for Figma today. The mechanism that checks out is continuation of the re-rating that followed Figma’s late-August results, layered onto broad-based strength across application software Thursday morning.
On August 25, Figma raised its annual revenue forecast, citing demand for AI-powered design, and its chief executive publicly pushed back on the argument that AI makes design tools obsolete. That framing is the origin of the current move, and it echoes the direction of travel investors have been hearing across creative software, including from Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE), Figma’s most direct competitor in design.
Same Rally, Different Starting Lines
Figma and Atlassian are both collaboration software names catching a strong bid, yet the identical direction hides a very different setup. Atlassian stock is grinding higher from a modestly positive year, so a 7% session simply extends an existing trend that has been in place.
Figma stock, sitting on a deep YTD drawdown, is being repriced off a much lower base. A 10% day for a name still down sharply for the year is a rebound trade off a severe derating, and that distinction matters for how investors should size their exposure.
Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) belongs in the frame because it is the incumbent that Figma has been measured against for years. Investors have spent much of 2026 debating whether AI-native features would erode the design-software stack (we studied the suppliers actually benefiting from the AI buildout in a free report on seven AI infrastructure names), and the recent action in both Figma and Adobe suggests that thesis is being partially unwound in favor of a monetization story.
What to Watch
Investors should consider keeping their position sizes modest on Figma stock here, because the shares are still recovering from a punishing YTD move rather than confirming a durable new uptrend. Atlassian stock offers the cleaner chart of the two, but a run this quick can also invite profit-taking if the broader software bid fades.
Watch for confirmation that Figma stock holds the double-digit gain into Thursday’s close and for follow-through in Adobe shares over the next several sessions. Additional Figma commentary or filings could shape the next leg, and for now the price action is telling investors that the AI-threat narrative around design software is at least partially cracking.
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David Moadel is financial writer specializing in stocks, ETFs, options, precious metals, and Bitcoin. David has written well over 1,000 articles for leading online publications, helping investors understand markets, income strategies, and risk.
His work has appeared in The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, U.S. News & World Report, TipRanks, ValueWalk, Benzinga, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finmasters, 24/7 Wall St., and others.
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