One-glance verdict
Undervalued
$51.79 our estimate vs market $9.15
Wall Street consensus: $9.88 (-80.9% lower than our fair-value estimate)
82% below our estimate, below the bear case
Fundamentals snapshot
Upwork Inc.
UPWK · NMS · Communication Services · Internet Content & Information
Current price
$9.15
52-week range
$7.44 - $22.84
Market cap
$1.14B
Balance sheet
Healthy
28.84x Strong cushion
Net cash $234.84M. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Returns 16.7% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
- Reward Trades at 11.9x P/E vs peer median 12.7x (6.6% cheaper).
- Risk Insider ownership is only 5.3% (peer median: 11.3%).
What this company does
Upwork Inc.
Upwork connects businesses with freelancers for projects, making money primarily from fees on completed jobs. This means their success depends on both businesses finding workers and workers finding jobs on their platform.
How the company got here
Upwork's story began with two separate companies, Elance (founded in 1998) and oDesk (founded in 2003), which were pioneers in the online freelance marketplace space. These two companies merged in 2013 to form Elance-oDesk, creating a larger platform for businesses to find freelance talent. In 2015, the company rebranded as Upwork, reflecting a broader vision for modern work. Upwork then went public in 2018, allowing it to access more capital and increase its visibility. The company has also made strategic acquisitions, such as Headroom in 2023, to enhance its capabilities, particularly in AI-related services.
What it actually does
Upwork operates as a large online marketplace that connects businesses needing various services with independent professionals, or freelancers, who offer those services. Think of it like a digital bulletin board where companies can post jobs, and freelancers can apply to do that work. Upwork provides the tools and infrastructure for these connections to happen smoothly, including ways to communicate, manage projects, and handle payments securely. This helps businesses find talent they might not otherwise be able to access, and it gives freelancers a way to find work and manage their careers.
Upwork Marketplace
This is the core of Upwork's business. Businesses post jobs or search for freelancers with specific skills, ranging from software development and design to writing and customer service. Freelancers create profiles showcasing their expertise and bid on projects. Upwork facilitates the entire process, from initial contact and contract negotiation to project collaboration and payment processing. The company makes money by taking a percentage of the fees paid to freelancers, with a tiered structure where the percentage decreases as more work is done with a client. This segment represents the vast majority of Upwork's revenue.
Upwork Enterprise
This segment is designed for larger organizations that need more robust solutions for managing their contingent workforce (freelancers and independent contractors). Upwork Enterprise offers features like advanced talent sourcing, onboarding, compliance management, and detailed reporting. It provides businesses with greater control and oversight when hiring and managing a larger pool of freelance talent. This part of the business is smaller than the main marketplace but is a growing area for Upwork, offering more tailored services to enterprise clients.
What management is betting on now
Upwork's leadership is focused on several key strategies to drive future growth. A major emphasis is on increasing the monetization of its marketplace, meaning they are looking for ways to earn more revenue from the transactions happening on the platform. They are also aiming to deepen their relationships with larger clients and enterprise customers, offering more comprehensive solutions. Additionally, Upwork is heavily investing in artificial intelligence (AI) to improve how it matches clients with freelancers and to enhance the overall productivity and experience for users on the platform.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Earnings history
Last 8 quarters — what happened
Click any quarter to read the call summary and what the numbers say.
FY2024 Q3
$100.92M
FY2024 Q4
$6.94M
FY2025 Q1
$34.49M
FY2025 Q2
$70.13M
FY2025 Q3
$74.60M
FY2025 Q4
$63.25M
FY2026 Q1
$21.30M
FY2026 Q2
$45.26M
Revenue
$191.66M
Net income
$25.40M
Diluted EPS
0.20
Operating cash flow
$46.87M
Free cash flow
$45.26M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$195.48M
Net income
$31.46M
Diluted EPS
0.24
Operating cash flow
$23.02M
Free cash flow
$21.30M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$198.41M
Net income
$15.63M
Diluted EPS
0.12
Operating cash flow
$63.70M
Free cash flow
$63.25M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$201.73M
Net income
$29.34M
Diluted EPS
0.21
Operating cash flow
$75.08M
Free cash flow
$74.60M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$194.94M
Net income
$32.73M
Diluted EPS
0.24
Operating cash flow
$72.51M
Free cash flow
$70.13M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$192.71M
Net income
$37.73M
Diluted EPS
0.27
Operating cash flow
$36.97M
Free cash flow
$34.49M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$191.48M
Net income
$147.17M
Diluted EPS
1.02
Operating cash flow
$8.49M
Free cash flow
$6.94M
Fetching…
Sources
Revenue
$193.78M
Net income
$27.76M
Diluted EPS
0.20
Operating cash flow
$102.13M
Free cash flow
$100.92M
Fetching…
Sources
Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $51.79 vs current price $9.15
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $9.88 (-80.9% lower than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $51.79 a share — about 466.0% above today's price of $9.15, so the stock currently looks cheap (undervalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $234.8M - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 28.8x.
Net debt
$-234.84M
Interest coverage
28.84x
Upwork Inc.'s profit covers its interest bill about 28.8 times over. which is stronger than every peer shown here and 2 peers sit below 1x, which is the danger zone where profit does not fully cover the interest bill.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
UPWK
BASELINE
Upwork Inc.
Total debt $379.41M Interest coverage 28.84x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $1.75M Interest coverage -0.55x -100% vs UPWK This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with UPWK.
Total debt $422.35M Interest coverage 3.82x -87% vs UPWK Carries about 7.6x less debt cushion than UPWK.
Total debt $264.99M Interest coverage -0.65x -100% vs UPWK This peer has almost no interest-payment cushion compared with UPWK.
Total debt $297.27M Interest coverage 4.46x -85% vs UPWK Carries about 6.5x less debt cushion than UPWK.
Total debt $3.08B Interest coverage 19.88x -31% vs UPWK Carries about 1.5x less debt cushion than UPWK.
What you should know
The case for and against UPWK
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Returns 16.7% on equity, ahead of 75% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 8/10 years.
-
Trades at 11.9x P/E vs peer median 12.7x (6.6% cheaper).
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 5.3% (peer median: 11.3%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
11.88x
Forward P/E
6.71x
P/B
2.03x
P/S
1.45x
EV/EBITDA
6.08x
PEG ratio
0.85x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
77.2%
Operating margin
21.8%
Net margin
12.9%
ROE
16.7%
ROA
6.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.62x
Current ratio
1.42x
Quick ratio
1.08x
Total debt
$379.41M
Total cash
$614.24M
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$787.28M
Revenue 5Y CAGR
11.9%
EPS TTM
0.77
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$208.67M
Free CF TTM
$242.47M
FCF margin
30.8%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
0.0%
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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