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FIG vs. ADSK: Which Stock Has an Edge in the Design SaaS Market?

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Key Takeaways

  • ADSK emerges stronger than FIG with a better earnings outlook, while FIG faces margin pressure.
  • ADSK leverages AI across AutoCAD, Revit and Fusion, with strong adoption of Sketch AutoConstrain tools.
  • FIG expands AI features and users, but margins fell 22%, and shares plunged 58.7% in six months.

Figma (FIG - Free Report) and Autodesk (ADSK - Free Report) are two of the largest players in the design SaaS space, catering to different end markets while being transformed by AI. Figma offers collaborative digital product design, and Autodesk provides engineering and industrial design software.

With the rising use of AI use cases, both Figma and Autodesk are implementing this new technology for value creation. While Figma is leveraging AI to expand creative productivity and user adoption, Autodesk uses AI for engineering optimization and risk reduction.

Let's dive deeper and compare these companies to uncover growth prospects and strategies so investors can make an informed bet.

The Case for Figma Stock

Figma is implementing AI across its portfolio with recent developments like the integration of AI agents in Figma Canvas that utilises Figma’s MCP server, and AI agents enable users to edit Figma files on the basis of existing design systems. Furthermore, tools like Claude Code and Codex can create and update designs automatically.

Other developments, like the integration of Gemini 3 Pro with Nano Banana Pro into its design workflows, have also enhanced the platform. Figma also collaborated with OpenAI so editors can prompt ChatGPT to create visual assets and further riff on these in Figma Buzz. Figma and ChatGPT’s collaboration is enabling users to generate FigJam diagrams directly from ChatGPT conversations.

Figma also acquired Weavy to enable its users to benefit from the leading AI models and editing tools on a single online canvas while giving users the flexibility to choose models like Seedance, Sora, Veo, Nano-Banana and Seedream per their needs. These features have made the Figma platform powerful and unbeatable in the competitive image editing market.

Figma Make, which is an AI-assisted creativity tool, has experienced 70% sequential growth in weekly active users, with more than 50% of customers contributing over $100K ARR. Approximately 60% of the files are generated by non-designers. Figma’s paid customer profiles comprise 13,861 customers with more than $10K ARR and 1,405 customers with more than $100K ARR at the end of 2025.

Figma’s non-GAAP operating profit declined 22% year over year to $44 million in the fourth quarter of 2025, with a non-GAAP operating margin of 14%, down 1,200 basis points from the prior-year quarter. The contraction in the margin is attributable to cost pressures emerging from the rollout of Figma Make and other AI features in the platform. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for FIG’s 2026 earnings shows a decline of 23%. Estimates have been revised downward in the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

The Case for Autodesk Stock

Autodesk is uniquely positioned to leverage decades of proprietary design, engineering, architecture and construction data to train its AI models. The integration of generative design, predictive analytics and automated workflows powered by AI is transforming how professionals are able to deliver measurable productivity gains that justify premium pricing.

Autodesk’s management guidance highlights accelerating adoption of AI-powered tools across AutoCAD, Revit and Fusion platforms. For instance, ADSK’s AI-based Sketch AutoConstrain in Fusion has been able to deliver more than 3.8 million constraints since its launch. ADSK is able to score more than two-thirds acceptance rate with nearly 90% of sketches fully constrained.

With these factors, ADSK will be able to position itself to benefit from incremental AI monetization, consumption-based monetization for machine execution, APIs, MCPs and subscription revenues. Autodesk is also able to leverage its deep industry context, including projects, constraints, workflows and combine it with AI.

Given these factors, ADSK is experiencing strong growth across infrastructure, emerging markets and industrial construction. AI-driven Data center buildouts are also expected to be a multi-year growth driver for the company. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for ADSK’s fiscal 2027 earnings implies a year-over-year rise of 18.7%. The estimate for fiscal 2027 has been revised upward in the past 30 days.

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

FIG vs. ADSK: Price Performance and Valuation

In the past six months, FIG shares have lost 58.7% compared with the 25.9% decline in ADSK shares.

Past Six-Month Price Performance Chart

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

On the valuation front, FIG trades at a forward 12-month P/S multiple of 6.73X, lower than its median 11.92X, while ADSK trades at 6.12X, lower than its median 8.04X.

Forward 12-Month (P/S) Valuation Chart

Zacks Investment Research
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research

Conclusion: ADSK vs. FIG Stock

Figma is experiencing declining margins while chasing long-term growth, and ADSK has a robust bottom-line outlook at present. AI integration in the portfolio is an upside for both, but ADSK’s years of proprietary data will enable it to provide highly differentiated solutions. Considering these factors, we suggest ADSK to be a better choice at the moment.

ADSK carries a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), while FIG carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

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