Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Updates FY 2026 Earnings Guidance

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) issued an update on its FY 2026 earnings guidance on Monday morning. The company provided earnings per share (EPS) guidance of 1.380-1.430 for the period, compared to the consensus earnings per share estimate of 1.520. The company issued revenue guidance of $730.0 million-$750.0 million, compared to the consensus revenue estimate of $776.0 million. Upwork also updated its Q3 2026 guidance to 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Upwork Stock Up 1.7%

UPWK traded up $0.16 during trading on Monday, hitting $9.83. 6,496,018 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,767,414. Upwork has a fifty-two week low of $7.44 and a fifty-two week high of $22.84. The stock has a market cap of $1.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.14 and a beta of 0.99. The business’s 50 day moving average is $8.86 and its two-hundred day moving average is $11.28.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) last posted its earnings results on Monday, August 10th. The company reported $0.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34 by $0.07. Upwork had a net margin of 13.81% and a return on equity of 17.92%. Upwork has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.380-1.430 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.310-0.330 EPS.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on UPWK. Weiss Ratings cut Upwork from a “hold (c-)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $22.00 to $10.00 in a research note on Friday, May 8th. Royal Bank Of Canada lowered their target price on shares of Upwork from $20.00 to $9.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, May 11th. UBS Group lowered shares of Upwork from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and dropped their price target for the company from $20.00 to $10.00 in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Finally, Citizens Jmp cut shares of Upwork from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday, May 8th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Upwork presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $15.50.

Insider Activity at Upwork

In other Upwork news, CFO Erica Gessert sold 9,169 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $74,727.35. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 341,609 shares in the company, valued at $2,784,113.35. The trade was a 2.61% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Hayden Brown sold 23,468 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $8.15, for a total value of $191,264.20. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 797,495 shares in the company, valued at $6,499,584.25. This represents a 2.86% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 34,471 shares of company stock worth $281,446. 4.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upwork

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Upwork by 19,361.1% during the 2nd quarter. EverSource Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,503 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after purchasing an additional 3,485 shares in the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Upwork during the 4th quarter valued at about $66,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Upwork by 103.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 4,103 shares of the company’s stock valued at $81,000 after buying an additional 2,087 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust increased its position in shares of Upwork by 37.2% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 5,629 shares of the company’s stock valued at $112,000 after buying an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Finally, Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its holdings in shares of Upwork by 1,333.0% in the second quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 13,972 shares of the company’s stock worth $188,000 after buying an additional 12,997 shares in the last quarter. 77.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.