Head to Head Analysis: Upwork (UPWK) and Its Rivals

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) is one of 203 publicly-traded companies in the “Professional Services” industry, but how does it compare to its competitors? We will compare Upwork to similar companies based on the strength of its profitability, earnings, analyst recommendations, dividends, valuation, institutional ownership and risk.

Earnings & Valuation

This table compares Upwork and its competitors revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Net Income	Price/Earnings Ratio
Upwork	$787.78 million	$115.43 million	12.02
Upwork Competitors	$3.30 billion	$228.39 million	37.01

Upwork’s competitors have higher revenue and earnings than Upwork. Upwork is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than its competitors, indicating that it is currently more affordable than other companies in its industry.

Profitability

This table compares Upwork and its competitors’ net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Upwork	13.53%	16.92%	8.79%
Upwork Competitors	0.25%	36.77%	4.43%

Volatility and Risk

Upwork has a beta of 1.03, meaning that its share price is 3% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Upwork’s competitors have a beta of 0.96, meaning that their average share price is 4% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Upwork and its competitors, as reported by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Upwork	1	9	3	0	2.15
Upwork Competitors	1593	6489	9187	433	2.48

Upwork currently has a consensus price target of $13.55, indicating a potential upside of 39.12%. As a group, “Professional Services” companies have a potential upside of 27.92%. Given Upwork’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Upwork is more favorable than its competitors.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

77.7% of Upwork shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 57.3% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by institutional investors. 4.9% of Upwork shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 17.2% of shares of all “Professional Services” companies are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Upwork competitors beat Upwork on 8 of the 13 factors compared.

Upwork Company Profile

Upwork operates an online marketplace that connects businesses with independent professionals and agencies for contract and project-based work. The platform supports hiring across areas such as software development, design, marketing, writing, customer service and consulting. Its services include the Talent Marketplace, where clients can find and hire professionals, and Project Catalog, which offers predefined services with set scopes. Upwork also provides solutions for larger organizations seeking to source and manage freelance talent.