How Canva has become Australia’s most valuable tech firm as Atlassian shares slumped
Tech titan Atlassian’s spectacular $60bn market slide has crowned Canva Australia as new technology leader, marking a big shift in the sector.
Canva is now Australia’s most valuable technology company, with former market darling Atlassian suffering a $60bn share slump since February to push it below’s Canva valuation for the first time.
The online graphics business headed by Melanie Perkins and husband Cliff Obrecht last week surpassed Atlassian’s valuation, marking a changing of the guard among the country’s biggest tech start-ups. Canva, which the duo founded with fellow billionaire Cameron Adams, is worth about $US42bn ($65bn) after an August transaction involving staff share sales and a new investment from JP Morgan Asset Management.
Atlassian’s market capitalisation has now slumped to about $US38bn ($58bn) following an almost 3 per cent fall last week.
The Atlassian share price has fallen about 13 per cent in the past month alone. Atlassian stock is down 55 per cent since it reached a 12-month high of about $US325 on the NASDAQ in February, as the one-time software sensation founded by billionaires Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar grapples with the rise of artificial intelligence.
Mr Cannon-Brookes is now in sole day-to-day charge of Atlassian after Mr Farquhar quit as co-chief executive in a surprise announcement early 2024 and stepped down from his management role in August last year. Mr Farquhar is an investor in Canva via his Skip Capital private investment firm run by his wife Kim Jackson. The Atlassian share price is now approaching levels last seen in late 2022 and are worth 30 per cent less than five years ago. Atlassian’s market capitalisation reached its all-time high of about $US162bn in October 2021.
Most analysts covering the stock in the US have buy or overweight recommendations on Atlassian, though there have been concerns about AI competing with or replacing its team collaboration software products such as Jira and Confluence.
In October CNBC host Jim Cramer – who has hosted Mr Cannon-Brookes on his show – told his Mad Money viewers that the rise of AI was “hurting” companies like Atlassian.
“People feel that they can create their own product that’s just as good as [Atlassian] using artificial intelligence. That’s why I no longer recommend the stock [of Atlassian],” Mr Cramer said.
Mr Cannon-Brookes and Mr Farquhar both own an equal amount of Atlassian stock, and have each seen about $10bn wiped from their estimated fortunes since this year’s edition of The List - Australia’s Richest 250 was published by The Australian in March.
Meanwhile, Ms Perkins and Mr Obrecht have been the biggest movers among the top 25 richest in the country, adding $3.6bn to their paper fortune as the investment world waits for the couple to float their online graphics giant.
Canva’s value vaulted after it launched an employee share tender offer and added JP Morgan Asset Management as a new investor in August, adding about $US10bn to its previous valuation.
Mr Obrecht, who is also Canva’s chief operating officer, said the company was now “one of the most widely used platforms on the internet, with more than 240 million designing with Canva each month”.
Its most recent investment round was led by Fidelity, an existing shareholder, while JP Morgan Asset Management and Wellington Management rounded out the register as its newest backers.
Canva is generating about $US3.5bn in annualised revenue, and Mr Obrecht said in August the company had “strong cash reserves, and has been profitable for the last eight years”.
In the past year, Canva has launched Canva Code, Canva Sheets and a wave of new AI tools, with capabilities like cinematic video and powerful design generation.
In October, Canva launched its Creative Operating System, building on its core suite of digital design tools with new products absorbed through acquisition, all powered by an upgraded AI. Leonardo.ai, a Sydney start-up acquired by Canva this year for $250m, has helped Canva layer its AI over every aspect of its visual suite.
Meanwhile, Atlassian has made a string of acquisitions this year as it tries to cope with the rise of AI. It claimed a 50 per cent increase in its monthly active users of its AI capabilities when it announced its September-quarter results in late October, but its shares have kept falling.
The highest valued, locally listed technology company is WiseTech Global, founded by billionaire Richard White and currently the subject of an investigation into alleged insider trading.
WiseTech’s market capitalisation is almost $23bn, though its shares are down about 45 per cent since January 1.
