Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Receives Buy Rating from BTIG Research

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reissued by analysts at BTIG Research in a research report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $43.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 41.82% from the company’s current price.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on UPST. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d)” rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Monday. Zacks Research raised Upstart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Truist Financial set a $40.00 price target on Upstart in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Upstart from $32.00 to $39.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 9th. Finally, Mizuho set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research report on Friday, May 8th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $44.27.

Upstart Stock Up 3.0%

Shares of Upstart stock opened at $30.32 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 79.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.78 and a beta of 2.29. Upstart has a twelve month low of $23.97 and a twelve month high of $85.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $31.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $31.58.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $0.16 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.19 by ($0.03). The business had revenue of $364.71 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $352.29 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 4.34%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 41.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.36 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Upstart will post 0.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Upstart

In other Upstart news, insider Natalia Mirgorodskaya sold 974 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.99, for a total transaction of $28,236.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 37,374 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,083,472.26. The trade was a 2.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Dave Girouard bought 170,240 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 7th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.37 per share, with a total value of $4,999,948.80. Following the acquisition, the director directly owned 8,512,941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $250,025,077.17. The trade was a 2.04% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 33,346 shares of company stock valued at $991,672. Company insiders own 17.29% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Upstart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in shares of Upstart by 16.4% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 27,700 shares of the company’s stock worth $981,000 after buying an additional 3,900 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc increased its holdings in shares of Upstart by 26.7% during the second quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 2,905 shares of the company’s stock worth $103,000 after buying an additional 612 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 15.1% in the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 24,722 shares of the company’s stock valued at $634,000 after acquiring an additional 3,241 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Upstart by 40.0% in the 1st quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 37,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $970,000 after acquiring an additional 10,800 shares during the last quarter. Finally, California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of Upstart by 21.3% during the 1st quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 100,693 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,583,000 after acquiring an additional 17,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Upstart

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q2 revenue and originations exceeded expectations. Upstart generated approximately $365 million in revenue, up about 42% year over year and ahead of Wall Street estimates. Management also reported 50% year-over-year growth in loan originations and an all-time high in contribution profit, supporting the view that platform demand and operating leverage are improving. Upstart Q2 Earnings and Revenues Surpass Estimates
• Positive Sentiment: Profitability was a key positive. Zacks reported adjusted earnings of $0.59 per share, above the $0.58 consensus estimate and well above the $0.36 reported a year earlier. However, other earnings data cited $0.16 per share versus a $0.19 estimate, indicating that the result depends on the accounting measure used. Zacks Upstart Q2 Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Funding and regulatory developments strengthened the growth outlook. Upstart has secured more than $4 billion in newly committed capital through agreements with investors including Fortress, Centerbridge, and Neuberger. Conditional OCC approval to establish Upstart Bank could also reduce operational and regulatory complexity over time. Upstart Funding Momentum Analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Full-year revenue guidance was maintained near consensus. Upstart projected FY 2026 revenue of approximately $1.4 billion, broadly matching analyst expectations, so the outlook was supportive but did not represent a major forecast upgrade.
• Negative Sentiment: Macro and portfolio risks remain. Management is navigating economic headwinds and strategic shifts in its loan portfolio. Investor sentiment is also tempered by mixed institutional activity and substantial insider selling reported over the past six months, despite purchases by CEO Dave Girouard and co-founder Paul Gu.

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.