Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Announces Earnings Results

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) announced its earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.36 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.13, FiscalAI reports. Upwork had a return on equity of 41.05% and a net margin of 31.63%.The business had revenue of $198.41 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $197.52 million.

Upwork Price Performance

NASDAQ UPWK traded down $0.14 on Monday, hitting $18.79. The company had a trading volume of 6,943,741 shares, compared to its average volume of 2,693,413. The company has a market capitalization of $2.46 billion, a PE ratio of 10.74 and a beta of 1.06. Upwork has a 12-month low of $11.13 and a 12-month high of $22.84. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $20.31 and its 200-day moving average price is $17.68.

Insider Transactions at Upwork

In other news, Director Gary Steele sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $17.51, for a total transaction of $218,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 85,129 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,490,608.79. This represents a 12.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Dave Bottoms sold 11,285 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, December 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $20.59, for a total value of $232,358.15. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 9,967 shares in the company, valued at approximately $205,220.53. The trade was a 53.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 523,248 shares of company stock worth $10,029,741. Company insiders own 7.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upwork

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 68.9% during the 1st quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 191,587 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,501,000 after acquiring an additional 78,123 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its position in shares of Upwork by 5.1% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 74,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $972,000 after purchasing an additional 3,599 shares in the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC grew its holdings in Upwork by 364.0% during the 1st quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 789,638 shares of the company’s stock valued at $10,305,000 after purchasing an additional 619,459 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its stake in Upwork by 10.2% during the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 338,680 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,420,000 after buying an additional 31,378 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Planning lifted its holdings in Upwork by 16.9% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 29,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after buying an additional 4,230 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 77.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Upwork from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $25.00 price objective on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Upwork from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 19th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Upwork in a research report on Wednesday, November 19th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $23.91.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork Inc operates a leading online talent marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals worldwide. Through its digital platform, the company enables clients across industries—including technology, marketing, creative services and customer support—to source, hire and manage freelance talent on demand. Key features of the Upwork platform include streamlined job posting, proposal evaluation, time-tracking tools, invoicing and secure payment processing, all designed to simplify collaboration between clients and remote workers.

The company traces its roots to the merger of two pioneering freelance marketplaces, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which combined in 2015 to form a unified entity.