Shares of online scrubs seller Figs are soaring in their stock market debut, valuing the 8-year old company at $4.8 billion
By JOSEPH PISANI AP Retail Writer
May 27, 2021, 8:36 PM
• 2 min read
Share to FacebookShare to TwitterEmail this articleNEW YORK -- Shares of Figs Inc., which sells scrubs online to nurses and doctors, soared 36% in their stock market debut Thursday, valuing the 8-year old company at more than $4.8 billion.
Heather Hasson and Trina Spear founded founded the company in 2013, setting out to remake what medical scrubs looked like: from baggy and V-necked to a more fitted silhouette in different styles.
At first, Hasson and Spear sold the scrubs from their cars outside hospitals, trying to catch health care workers as they left their shifts at 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Today, Figs sells its goods online, and offers scrub bottoms that look like joggers and tops that are sleeveless.
The company aims to dress health care workers from head to toe, selling underwear, socks and fleece jackets that go with its scrubs. It has also partnered with New Balance to sell a line of sneakers.
Last year, Fig's revenue more than doubled to $263 million from the year before. Its profit soared to $49.7 million from $112,000 in 2019.
Figs, which is based in Santa Monica, California, raised more than $580 million in its initial public offering, selling nearly 26.4 million shares at $22 apiece. Hasson and Spear are co-CEOs.
The IPO is the first to be sold on stock trading app Robinhood, giving regular people a way to buy shares in an IPO. Typically, only Wall Street insiders can buy into companies before they become public, although there have been some exceptions.
Ride-hailing apps Uber and Lyft gave their drivers a way to buy IPO shares. And online marketplace Etsy let its users get a piece of its IPO.
Figs said it teamed up with Robinhood so that health care workers could have a way to own a piece of the company.
“To be able to give access to a whole group of people in our community was really important to us," said Spear.
Shares of Figs, which are trading on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol “FIGS,” rose $8.02 to close at $30.02 Thursday.
Hasson said she named the company after her favorite fruit, inspired by other brands with fruits in their name.
“I thought about really successful companies,” she said. “Lululemon — fruit; Apple — fruit.”
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AP Business writer Alex Veiga in Los Angeles contributed to this story.
