Needham & Company LLC Cuts Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target to $37.00

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) had its price target lowered by Needham & Company LLC from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research note released on Wednesday, Marketbeat.com reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently issued reports on UPST. Zacks Research raised Upstart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. Compass Point raised Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Upstart from $59.00 to $49.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 11th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market underperform” rating and set a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a report on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Citigroup cut Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Friday, February 13th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Upstart has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $45.87.

Upstart Stock Performance

UPST stock opened at $28.96 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 76.21, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 2.26. Upstart has a fifty-two week low of $23.97 and a fifty-two week high of $87.30. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $28.67 and a 200-day moving average of $38.04.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported ($0.07) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.39 by ($0.46). The company had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $301.30 million. Upstart had a return on equity of 5.63% and a net margin of 4.34%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Upstart will post 0.94 EPS for the current year.

Upstart announced that its board has authorized a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, February 19th that allows the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other Upstart news, Director Dave Girouard purchased 170,240 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price 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 in the company, valued at approximately $250,025,077.17. The trade was a 2.04% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201. Insiders own 16.67% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of UPST. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 749.2% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 442 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Upstart by 132.2% in the 3rd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 439 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

Key Upstart News

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Director Dave Girouard bought 170,240 shares for about $5.0 million, a notable insider purchase that can signal confidence in Upstart’s outlook. SEC Form 4 filing
• Neutral Sentiment: Upstart’s latest quarterly report showed revenue growth above expectations but a loss per share that missed estimates, which has kept investors cautious after the post-earnings reaction. Benzinga article
• Neutral Sentiment: BTIG reiterated a Buy rating, but B. Riley and Needham both cut their price targets, signaling mixed analyst views rather than a clear catalyst. BTIG rating article B. Riley target cut article Needham target cut article
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple law firms are promoting a securities class action tied to the May 14, 2025 to November 4, 2025 period, adding legal uncertainty and potential settlement costs for Upstart. Schall Law Firm article Gross Law Firm article Rosen Law Firm article
• Negative Sentiment: Recent reports say Upstart is down after a wider Q1 loss, which reinforces concerns that profitability remains inconsistent despite revenue and originations growth. Yahoo Finance article

About Upstart

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.