Crypto Lender Figure Shares Jump 6% After Bernstein Raises Price Target

In brief

Bernstein analysts are forecasting more than a 30% jump in shares of blockchain lending firm, Figure Technologies.
Figure hit public markets in September, conducting an IPO at $25 per share of FIGR.
Shares are up around 6.5% today and trading at $42.71. Bernstein set its price target at $54.

Blockchain lender Figure Technologies (FIGR) has “tremendous growth headroom” according to analysts at investment firm Bernstein, earning it an “outperform” rating and a new price target of $54 per share.

The new price target hints at more than 30% upside based on Monday’s opening FIGR trading price of $41.02. Shares of FIGR were up 6.4% since trading began, now changing hands at $42.76.

“Figure’s technology stack brings the liquidity of blockchain capital markets to consumer loans, transforming a ‘balance sheet heavy’ lending model to a ‘capital light’ marketplace business,” Bernstein analysts wrote.

“With addressable market for credit tokenization over $2 trillion, FIGR has tremendous growth headroom, as it expands from HELOCs (home equity line of credit) into new loan products and potentially even new asset classes such as equities.”

Figure hit public markets in early September, raising nearly $800 million in an initial public offering (IPO) that offered shares at $25, ultimately valuing the firm around $5.3 billion. Less than a month later, shares in the New York-based firm have jumped around 75%.

Founded in 2018, the firm uses its Provenance blockchain network to facilitate the tokenization of private credit, sometimes providing access to capital within days of credit approval. Figure describes its ecosystem as “the largest non-bank provider of home equity financing,” having originated $16 billion worth of home loans since inception.

Bernstein highlighted its place as a leader in the niche, alongside a strong product-market-fit and optionality into other loan types as potential catalysts for its outperform target.

“As tokenization eats into the over $2Tn consumer loan origination market, FIGR is positioned to emerge as a strong technology partner for banks and independent originators,” the Bernstein analyst note reads.

Data from RWA.xyz indicates the firm’s blockchain maintains around $12.85 billion in active loan values, a 10% increase over the last 30 days. The next closest participants in the private credit markets, Tradeable and Maple, have less than $4 billion in active loans combined.

Mike Cagney and June Ou co-founded Figure. Cagney is a former co-founder of fintech firm SoFi.