Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Releases Q4 Earnings Guidance

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) updated its fourth quarter earnings guidance on Wednesday. The company provided earnings per share guidance of $0.24-0.26 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of $0.22. The company issued revenue guidance of $178-183 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $175.70 million.

Analyst Ratings Changes

UPWK has been the subject of several research reports. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $19.00 to $15.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Roth Mkm cut their price target on Upwork from $19.00 to $13.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, August 16th. Royal Bank of Canada lowered their price objective on Upwork from $15.00 to $11.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on Upwork from $24.00 to $21.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Upwork from $13.00 to $11.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 25th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Upwork currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $15.27.

Upwork Stock Performance

Shares of UPWK traded up $0.19 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $14.58. 4,239,287 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,129,094. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $10.76 and its 200-day simple moving average is $10.90. The company has a quick ratio of 3.00, a current ratio of 3.00 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Upwork has a 52 week low of $8.43 and a 52 week high of $16.36. The firm has a market cap of $1.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.16 and a beta of 1.49.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.23 by $0.03. Upwork had a net margin of 10.00% and a return on equity of 20.75%. The firm had revenue of $193.13 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $193.05 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned ($0.03) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Upwork will post 0.51 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of Upwork stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total value of $304,032.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,190,561 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 20,353 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $196,406.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 107,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,035,570.45. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 31,506 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $9.65, for a total transaction of $304,032.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,190,561 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,488,913.65. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 176,783 shares of company stock valued at $1,800,221 over the last three months. Insiders own 7.60% of the company’s stock.

About Upwork

Upwork Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates a work marketplace that connects businesses with various independent professionals and agencies in the United States, India, the Philippines, and internationally. The company’s work marketplace provides access to talent with various skills across a range of categories, including administrative support, sales and marketing, design and creative, and customer service, as well as web, mobile, and software development.