Figure Technology's stock sizzles after IPO, as investors stay hungry for crypto deals
By Steve GelsiInvestors will soon get another way to play the crypto trend through the stock market, with Gemini Space Station set to debut on FridayBlockchain-technology specialist Figure Technology Solutions will start trading on the Nasdaq on Thursday.Figure Technology Solutions Inc.'s stock was rallying about 24% on Thursday, in a sign of sustained interest by Wall Street in the fast-growing digital-currency sector.At the closing bell, Figure Technology's stock (FIGR) stood at $31.11 a share, up $6.11 from its IPO price of $25 a share. The stock opened at $36 a share in the early afternoon and traded between a high of $38.05 and a low of $30.13 a share.The pricing of Figure's IPO came just after Klarna Group PLC's stock (KLAR) rose 14.6% on its first day of trading, after the buy-now-pay-later company's IPO also priced above its estimated range. Klarna's stock was down 6.7% in its second day of trading Thursday.A busy day is expected for IPOs on Friday, highlighted by the anticipated debut of crypto exchange Gemini Space Station Inc. (GEMI), which saw its estimated IPO pricing range raised earlier this week.The Renaissance IPO exchange-traded fund IPO has soared 22% in 2025 including a rise of 1.14% on Thursday, while the S&P 500 index SPX has advanced 12% and the Nasdaq COMP has risen 14.2%.Read: Klarna leads busiest week for big IPOs in four years. Will newly public stocks stay hot?Figure Technology, a profitable financial-technology company co-founded by a former chief executive officer of Sofi Technologies Inc. (SOFI), specializes in blockchain access to help lenders provide home-equity loans.Late Wednesday, the company priced 31.5 million shares to raise $787.5 million.In a sign of strong demand, the estimated pricing range was raised earlier this week to $20 to $22, from $18 to $20. The number of shares being offered was also raised, from 26.65 million shares.The lead underwriters of Figure's IPO included Wall Street heavyweights Goldman Sachs, Jefferies and BofA Securities.Four more deals are on deck for Friday: heating and ventilation company Legence (LGN) ($702 million in expected IPO proceeds), traffic-management company Via Transportation (VIA) ($450 million), Gemini ($417 million) and coffee chain Black Rock Coffee Bar (BRCB) ($250 million).The IPO market has been fueled by a backlog of companies that have grown larger partly by raising money in private markets, as well as by a continued rally in the stock market - with the S&P 500 setting a new all-time closing high on Wednesday.Other tailwinds for IPOs include quickly growing industries such as cryptocurrency, artificial intelligence and data centers.Figure Technology describes itself as a blockchain-native capital marketplace that connects origination, funding and secondary-market activity among lenders and borrowers.It was co-founded in 2018 by Executive Chairman Michael Cagney and board member June Ou, who is Cagney's spouse. Cagney was chief executive of Sofi from 2011 to 2017.In 2020, Figure Technology completed the first securitization of blockchain-native consumer loans in the industry, according to the company."We believe we are the largest real-world asset player in public blockchain, and no one else has been able to catch up to us," Cagney said in the company's IPO prospectus.Figure Technology has worked with more than 160 partners for its loan-origination system and capital marketplace, with more than $16 billion in home-equity loans to date.It runs Figure Connect, a consumer-credit marketplace, and Democratized Prime, which it describes as "Figure's on-chain lend-borrow marketplace."The company reported net income of $29 million on revenue of $191 million in the six months ending June 30. In the year-ago period, it reported a net loss of $13 million on revenue of $156 million.In full-year 2024, it generated $341 million in revenue and net income of $17.2 million, up from revenue of $209.6 million and a net loss of $47.94 million for full-year 2023.-Steve GelsiThis content was created by MarketWatch, which is operated by Dow Jones & Co. MarketWatch is published independently from Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal.