Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Announces Quarterly Earnings Results

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday. The company reported $0.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.31 by $0.09, FiscalAI reports. Upwork had a net margin of 12.94% and a return on equity of 16.70%. The company had revenue of $185.60 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $180.22 million.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK stock traded up $0.57 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $9.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,804,896 shares, compared to its average volume of 3,548,754. Upwork has a 1-year low of $7.44 and a 1-year high of $22.84. The company has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.62 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $8.64 and its two-hundred day moving average is $10.71.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on UPWK shares. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $11.50 target price on Upwork in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 14th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upwork in a report on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group reduced their price objective on Upwork from $10.00 to $9.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 12th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $13.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,336 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total transaction of $78,889.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 373,586 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,156,801.70. The trade was a 2.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Anthony Kappus sold 45,732 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.45, for a total transaction of $386,435.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 76,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $645,089.90. The trade was a 37.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 178,868 shares of company stock worth $1,509,462. Corporate insiders own 4.90% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc operates a global work marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies. Clients use the platform to find, evaluate, hire and manage talent for projects across areas such as software development, design, marketing, writing, consulting, customer support and administrative services.

The company provides tools for talent discovery, project collaboration, communications, time tracking, contract management and payments. Its offerings serve both individual clients and larger organizations, with features designed to support recurring engagements, contingent-work programs and enterprise talent management.

Upwork was formed in 2015 through the merger of Elance and oDesk, two online freelance-work platforms, and began trading publicly on the Nasdaq stock exchange in 2018.