Upwork Stock Soars After-Hours On Q2 Beat and Raised Guidance: What's Going On?

Upwork Inc. UPWK shares are trading higher in the after-hours session following the company's second-quarter earnings report. Here's a summary of the results and what's moving the stock.

What To Know: The company reported quarterly earnings of 10 cents per share which beat the analyst consensus estimate of one cent, a 350% increase over losses of four cents per share from last year. Upwork reported quarterly sales of $168.60 million, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $162.71 million, a 7.46% increase over sales of $156.90 million in the same period last year.

Gross Services Volume increased 3% quarter-over-quarter and was down slightly by approximately 1% year-over-year.

In a letter to the shareholders, the company spoke about the hot topic of AI in relation to the quarter and going forward, stating, "Over the past few weeks, we unveiled the first of many generative AI innovations in our ecosystem, which we expect to further accelerate our momentum in this flourishing space."

"On July 11, we launched a new centralized AI Services hub that connects clients to highly skilled AI-focused talent, features partnerships with leading AI providers, and highlights resources and tools for businesses and talent looking to boost their work with AI. We further advanced this priority through a partnership with OpenAI announced earlier this week, establishing OpenAI Experts on Upwork."

Upwork also issued guidance for the third-quarter 2023, with revenue estimated between $165 million and $170 million, a 6% year-over-year increase at the midpoint. The company also raised full-year 2023 revenue guidance to between $665 million and $675 million, 8% year-over-year growth at the midpoint.

Upwork anticipates third-quarter 2023 earnings per share to be between nine cents and 11 cents and full-year 2023 earnings per share between 36 cents and 39 cents.

Related Link: Occidental Petroleum Reports Mixed Q2 Results, Raises Full-Year Production Outlook

UPWK Price Action: Shares of UPWK were up 18.4% at $11.80 in after-hours trading at the time of publication, according to Benzinga Pro.

Image by Firmbee from Pixabay