Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Down Following Weak Earnings

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST) shares gapped down before the market opened on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $31.17, but opened at $28.00. Upstart shares last traded at $28.4920, with a volume of 2,286,183 shares trading hands.

The company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.09). Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $301.30 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. Upstart’s revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Upstart declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the company to reacquire up to 3.2% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

More Upstart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO visibility — Upstart’s co?founder and CEO will appear in a fireside chat at the J.P. Morgan Global TMT Conference, providing management a platform to discuss strategy and respond to investor questions. Business Wire: CEO Fireside Chat
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership momentum — Upstart announced a partnership with Justice Federal Credit Union to expand use of its lending platform, a sign of commercial traction that can support revenue growth. Yahoo Finance: Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts still constructive despite cuts — B. Riley trimmed its target to $54 (from $66) but kept a buy rating, and other firms reaffirmed buy/overweight stances, signaling that some investors view current weakness as a buying opportunity. MarketScreener: B. Riley target cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler lowered its target to $46 from $56 but kept an Overweight rating — the cut reflects concern after an adjusted?EBITDA miss but the maintained rating tempers the sell signal. 247WallStreet: Piper Sandler note
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 earnings shortfall — Upstart reported a Q1 EPS miss (company reported a loss vs. consensus) and an adjusted EBITDA miss that triggered selling; revenue grew but the profitability miss and widening loss hurt near?term sentiment. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities?class?action filings and law?firm notices — Several firms (Pomerantz, Rosen, Faruqi, Bernstein Liebhard, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) have announced suits or investor notices covering the May–Nov 2025 class period and a June 8 deadline for lead?plaintiff applications, increasing legal and headline risk. GlobeNewswire: Pomerantz filing GlobeNewswire: Rosen notice
• Negative Sentiment: Broader analyst target cuts after earnings — Beyond Piper, coverage notes that Morgan Stanley and Goldman previously cut targets (cited in industry alerts), adding to downward pressure as sell?side models are repriced lower. GlobeNewswire: Analyst target coverage mention

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. Citizens Jmp restated a “market underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, February 13th. Truist Financial set a $40.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a research report on Wednesday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut shares of Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $46.93.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. This trade represents a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders have sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kera Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Upstart by 69.8% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 22,947 shares of the company’s stock worth $589,000 after purchasing an additional 9,432 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart in the 1st quarter worth approximately $206,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in Upstart by 274.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after buying an additional 1,350 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Upstart by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,059 shares of the company’s stock worth $661,000 after buying an additional 5,755 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp lifted its position in Upstart by 726.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $127,000 after buying an additional 4,357 shares in the last quarter. 63.01% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Upstart Trading Down 7.9%

The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a PE ratio of 68.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $28.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $38.30.

Upstart Company Profile

Upstart Holdings, Inc operates a cloud-based lending marketplace that leverages artificial intelligence and machine learning to assess borrower creditworthiness. The company partners with banks and credit unions, providing its proprietary AI models and underwriting platform to facilitate consumer credit products. By focusing on non?traditional data points—such as education, employment history and other real?time indicators—Upstart seeks to improve approval rates and lower loss rates compared with conventional credit scoring methods.

Upstart’s core offering centers on unsecured personal loans, which borrowers can use for purposes such as debt consolidation, home improvements or major purchases.