Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)
Upstart is a technology company that uses artificial intelligence to help banks decide who to lend money to, aiming to make credit more accessible.
Is Upstart Holdings, Inc. a good stock for a UK beginner?
The honest version: There's no rating here and nothing for sale. In its favour: High gross margins suggest a scalable software business model. Worth weighing: High volatility as shown by the beta of 2.3.
Is this normal for this company?
Each figure against the range this same company has produced recently. Neither end of a range is the good end.
Share price divided by the earnings actually reported over the four most recent quarters. The range is the same calculation at each of this company's last few results, so roughly the past year.
Profit as a share of sales, from the company's own quarterly statements. The range covers the 5 quarters we hold, and the figure shown is its most recent one.
How these ranges are built
Every number here is the company's own reported figure, not a comparison with other companies. The ranges come from this company's own results and its share price. Where it reports in a different currency from the one its shares trade in, the price-to-earnings range is left out rather than mixing the two.
What does Upstart Holdings, Inc. do?
Upstart acts as a digital middleman, using clever software to analyse loan applicants beyond just their traditional credit score. They charge banks a fee for every loan processed through their platform. What really matters is how well their AI performs when the economy gets bumpy, since that dictates whether banks keep using their service.
On our factor screen it looks strongest on growth and value, and weakest on momentum.
- !Pays no dividend - the whole return rides on the share price
- ✓Growing - revenue up about 42% over the year
- !High P/E of 57 - big growth is already priced in
- !Carries a lot of debt - roughly 2.6x its equity
- Growth screens high
- Momentum screens low
- Income screens low
Does Upstart Holdings, Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Upstart Holdings, Inc. doesn't currently pay a dividend, so the whole return would rest on the share price. Plenty of growing companies reinvest their profits instead of paying them out - neither approach is better or worse, they're just different.
What do Upstart Holdings, Inc.'s numbers mean?
How has it performed?
Growth of £1,000, the worst fall, and year by year
Over about 2 years to 2026-09-11. This is the share price only; any dividends would add to it. And it's the USD return - as a UK investor your actual £ return also moves with the exchange rate. Past performance is not a guide to the future, and it could just as easily have fallen.
How much has Upstart Holdings, Inc. actually fallen?
Over the last 2 years of daily prices, Upstart Holdings, Inc. fell as much as −73% from a high to a later low. Falls like this are normal when you own a share.
Past falls are not a forecast - it can fall further, or recover.
How has it done year by year?
Calendar-year total return - the share price with dividends reinvested - from adjusted closing prices. The current year is only part-complete. Past returns are not a guide to the future.
A closer look at the numbers
Ownership, earnings history, where the money goes, and the outlook range
Does the share price tell you if it's cheap or expensive?
Who owns Upstart Holdings, Inc.?
About 63% of Upstart Holdings, Inc., or about 63 in every 100 shares, is held by big institutions such as pension and index funds, and company insiders hold about 13%. The rest, roughly 24%, is held by the public and smaller investors.
What this does and doesn't tell you
This is a recent snapshot of the share register, and it moves. We don't read anything into who owns what - a high institutional share is common for any large listed company and is not a signal about it.
Based on beta - how much the price swings versus the whole market. Bumpier isn't bad; it just means a rougher ride, which matters more the sooner you might need the money.
Prices move on results, news and the mood of the whole market - no single headline explains a day, and a quiet week is usually just noise, not a signal.
How much money does Upstart Holdings, Inc. make?
Revenue and profit by quarter, and how much of each sale turns into profit.
Where does each £100 of Upstart Holdings, Inc.'s sales go?
A rough split of the latest full-year figures: of every £100 of sales, about £17 covers making the product or service, £78 goes on running costs, tax and interest, and about £5 is left as profit. Margins vary a lot by industry, and one-off items can distort a single year.
When does Upstart Holdings, Inc. report earnings, and how did recent quarters go?
Upstart Holdings, Inc. is next scheduled to report on about 2026-11-03 - dates can move, and we don't predict results; this just tells you when to look.
‘Beat’ and ‘missed’ are against what analysts expected, not whether the business is doing well.
| Reported | Expected EPS: The earnings per share analysts expected for the quarter - the average of their forecasts. 'Beating' or 'missing' is measured against this number. | Actual EPS | vs expected |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-05-05 | $0.43 | $0.30 | Missed -29% |
| 2026-02-10 | $0.46 | $0.50 | Beat +8% |
| 2025-11-04 | $0.42 | $0.52 | Beat +23% |
| 2025-08-05 | $0.25 | $0.36 | Beat +42% |
| 2025-05-06 | $0.17 | $0.30 | Beat +76% |
| 2025-02-11 | $-0.04 | $0.26 | Beat +750% |
Across the last 6 quarters here, Upstart Holdings, Inc. came in ahead of what analysts expected 5 times. One quarter is noise, not a trend.
See who else reports over the next two weeks →
Where these figures come from
Each quarter a company reports its results against a consensus of analyst forecasts. The figures here are reported versus expected earnings per share from published results; the expectation is that analyst consensus, not our view. Report dates are estimates and can move.
What are the scenarios for Upstart Holdings, Inc.?
An illustrative range for the year ahead — not a prediction or a price target.
What are the pros, cons and common questions?
The case each way, and the questions people ask
Upstart becomes a standard tool for the majority of US banks
Regulatory changes limiting the use of AI in lending
What are the pros and cons of Upstart Holdings, Inc.?
A balance check, not a score or verdict.
- High gross margins suggest a scalable software business model
- Strong revenue growth: How fast the company's sales grew versus a year ago. indicates high demand for their technology
- Uses modern AI to potentially improve financial inclusion
- High volatility as shown by the beta of 2.3
- No dividend payments for those seeking regular income
- Low net margin: How much of each £1 of sales becomes profit after all costs. Higher = more profitable per sale. suggests high operating costs relative to profit
- Sensitive to interest rate changes which impact loan demand
- Regulatory scrutiny regarding the use of AI in financial decisions
- Dependence on a limited number of banking partners
The write-up's own warning lights — if these start happening, the case above changes.
- A sustained period of declining revenue growth
- Evidence that the AI model is not performing better than traditional credit scoring
Common questions about Upstart Holdings, Inc.
Does Upstart Holdings, Inc. pay a dividend?
No - Upstart Holdings, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend, so the return would rest on the share price. Many growing companies reinvest profits instead of paying them out.
When does Upstart Holdings, Inc. report earnings next?
Upstart Holdings, Inc. is next scheduled to report results on about 2026-11-03. Report dates are estimates and can move; this is a diary note for when to look, not a forecast of the outcome.
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International Public Partnerships LimitedBuilt from public filings & market prices, checked for an education-only tone, and never a price target. How we make these →
This plain-English summary was auto-generated on 2026-08-02 from public data and checked for an education-only, no-advice tone (the figures above carry their own, usually fresher, 'as of' date). It's information, never a recommendation.