Revenue growth has decelerated to 1.4% as of 2026Q1, while the company maintained a consistent gross margin profile of approximately 77% over the last ten quarters.
| Sales/Revenue | 790.56M | 787.78M | 769.33M | 689.14M | 618.32M | 502.8M | 373.63M | 300.56M | 253.35M | 202.55M | 164.44M |
| Revenue Growth % | 2.52% | 2.4% | 11.64% | 11.45% | 22.98% | 34.57% | 24.31% | 18.63% | 25.08% | 23.17% | - |
| Cost of Goods Sold | 177.59M | 174.75M | 174.09M | 170.45M | 160.4M | 135.51M | 104.27M | 88.14M | 81.46M | 65.44M | 62.58M |
| COGS % of Revenue | - | 22.18% | 22.63% | 24.73% | 25.94% | 26.95% | 27.91% | 29.33% | 32.15% | 32.31% | 38.05% |
| Gross Profit | 612.97M | 613.03M | 595.23M | 518.69M | 457.92M | 367.29M | 269.36M | 212.42M | 171.9M | 137.11M | 101.87M |
| Gross Margin % | 77.54% | 77.82% | 77.37% | 75.27% | 74.06% | 73.05% | 72.09% | 70.67% | 67.85% | 67.69% | 61.95% |
| Gross Profit Growth % | - | 2.99% | 14.76% | 13.27% | 24.67% | 36.36% | 26.81% | 23.57% | 25.37% | 34.6% | - |
| Operating Expenses | 489.64M | 483.73M | 530.02M | 529.95M | 550.54M | 421.51M | 291.77M | 231.15M | 183.61M | 140.23M | 116.33M |
| OpEx % of Revenue | - | 61.4% | 68.89% | 76.9% | 89.04% | 83.83% | 78.09% | 76.91% | 72.47% | 69.23% | 70.74% |
| Selling, General & Admin | 296.94M | 288.14M | 314.01M | 339.61M | 370.83M | 296.38M | 204.74M | 163.22M | 122.3M | 90.38M | 72.88M |
| SG&A % of Revenue | - | 36.58% | 40.82% | 49.28% | 59.97% | 58.95% | 54.8% | 54.3% | 48.27% | 44.62% | 44.32% |
| Research & Development | 186.5M | 189.34M | 209.28M | 177.36M | 154.55M | 119.08M | 83.47M | 64.03M | 55.49M | 45.6M | 37.9M |
| R&D % of Revenue | - | 24.04% | 27.2% | 25.74% | 25% | 23.68% | 22.34% | 21.3% | 21.9% | 22.51% | 23.05% |
| Other Operating Expenses | 3.49M | 6.24M | 6.73M | 12.98M | 25.15M | 6.05M | 3.56M | 3.9M | -6.14M | -62K | -908K |
| Operating Income | 123.33M | 129.31M | 65.21M | -11.26M | -92.62M | -54.22M | -22.41M | -18.73M | -11.71M | -3.12M | -14.47M |
| Operating Margin % | 15.6% | 16.41% | 8.48% | -1.63% | -14.98% | -10.78% | -6% | -6.23% | -4.62% | -1.54% | -8.8% |
| Operating Income Growth % | - | 98.31% | 679.09% | 87.84% | -70.84% | -141.95% | -19.62% | -59.94% | -275.02% | 78.41% | - |
| EBITDA | 150.24M | 151.78M | 82.86M | 1.46M | -81.49M | -40.41M | -8.38M | -9.29M | -6.76M | 1.06M | -6.01M |
| EBITDA Margin % | 19% | 19.27% | 10.77% | 0.21% | -13.18% | -8.04% | -2.24% | -3.09% | -2.67% | 0.52% | -3.65% |
| EBITDA Growth % | 37.12% | 83.18% | 5582.85% | 101.79% | -101.65% | -382.46% | 9.81% | -37.32% | -736.22% | 117.7% | - |
| D&A (Non-Cash Add-back) | 26.91M | 22.47M | 17.65M | 12.72M | 11.14M | 13.81M | 14.03M | 9.45M | 4.95M | 4.19M | 8.46M |
| EBIT | 135.01M | 140.98M | 65.21M | -11.26M | -92.62M | -53.94M | -21.94M | -15.32M | -17.85M | -3.19M | -15.38M |
| Net Interest Income | 18.6M | 12.8M | 28M | 0 | -4.48M | -2.18M | -778K | -1.31M | -2.04M | -960K | -858K |
| Interest Income | 20M | 13.5M | 30.7M | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Interest Expense | 1.4M | 700K | 2.7M | 0 | 4.48M | 2.18M | 778K | 1.31M | 2.04M | 960K | 858K |
| Other Income/Expense | 22.54M | 23.87M | 25.22M | 60.14M | 3.27M | -1.9M | -309K | 2.1M | -8.18M | -1.02M | -1.77M |
| Pretax Income | 145.88M | 153.18M | 90.43M | 48.88M | -89.35M | -56.12M | -22.72M | -16.63M | -19.89M | -4.14M | -16.23M |
| Pretax Margin % | 18.45% | 19.44% | 11.75% | 7.09% | -14.45% | -11.16% | -6.08% | -5.53% | -7.85% | -2.05% | -9.87% |
| Income Tax | 36.72M | 37.75M | -125.16M | 1.99M | 536K | 122K | 150K | 28K | 15K | -22K | -1K |
| Effective Tax Rate % | 25.17% | 24.65% | -138.41% | 4.07% | -0.6% | -0.22% | -0.66% | -0.17% | -0.08% | 0.53% | 0.01% |
| Net Income | 109.16M | 115.42M | 215.59M | 46.89M | -89.89M | -56.24M | -22.87M | -16.66M | -19.91M | -4.12M | -16.23M |
| Net Margin % | 13.81% | 14.65% | 28.02% | 6.8% | -14.54% | -11.19% | -6.12% | -5.54% | -7.86% | -2.04% | -9.87% |
| Net Income Growth % | -53.53% | -46.46% | 359.8% | 152.16% | -59.82% | -145.94% | -37.27% | 16.32% | -382.83% | 74.6% | - |
| Net Income (Continuing) | 109.16M | 115.42M | 215.59M | 46.89M | -89.89M | -56.24M | -22.87M | -16.66M | -19.91M | -4.12M | -16.23M |
| Discontinued Operations | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Minority Interest | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| EPS (Diluted) | 0.80 | 0.83 | 1.52 | 0.34 | -0.69 | -0.44 | -0.19 | -0.15 | -0.19 | -0.04 | -0.50 |
| EPS Growth % | -52.1% | -45.39% | 347.06% | 149.28% | -56.82% | -131.58% | -26.67% | 21.05% | -341.86% | 91.4% | - |
| EPS (Basic) | - | 0.87 | 1.61 | 0.35 | -0.69 | -0.44 | -0.19 | -0.15 | -0.19 | -0.04 | -0.50 |
| Diluted Shares Outstanding | 135.7M | 139.41M | 143.15M | 137.26M | 130.52M | 127.16M | 118.7M | 109.81M | 103.72M | 95.93M | 32.49M |
| Basic Shares Outstanding | 128.1M | 130.62M | 133.62M | 134.77M | 130.52M | 127.16M | 118.7M | 109.81M | 103.72M | 95.93M | 32.49M |
| Dividend Payout Ratio | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - | - |
Generative AI platform cannibalization
According to the provided quarterly financial data, Upwork's revenue growth has decelerated significantly, falling from 18.7% in 2024Q1 to a mere 1.4% by 2026Q1, suggesting that the platform is struggling to maintain its historical expansion pace in a maturing digital labor market.
The consistent decline in year-over-year revenue growth indicates that the company's core marketplace model may be reaching a saturation point. Investors should monitor whether this trend reflects a broader cooling in enterprise demand for external talent or if the platform is losing its competitive edge to alternative labor acquisition channels.
As reported in the income statement history, Upwork has maintained a remarkably consistent gross margin profile, hovering near 77% over the last ten quarters, which highlights the inherent scalability of its digital marketplace infrastructure despite the recent slowdown in overall top-line revenue expansion.
This stability suggests that the cost of service, primarily driven by payment processing and cloud hosting, remains well-contained. While these margins are robust, they appear to be structurally capped, implying that future profitability gains must come from operating leverage rather than further improvements in the cost of revenue.
Based on the provided figures, Upwork has successfully expanded its operating margin from 4.6% in 2023Q4 to 16.7% in 2026Q1, demonstrating a clear pivot toward operational efficiency as the company scales back its relative investment in sales and marketing overheads.
The reduction in SG&A intensity relative to gross profit suggests that management is prioritizing bottom-line performance over aggressive user acquisition. This shift warrants further investigation into whether such austerity measures might eventually constrain the company's ability to defend its market share against emerging competitors.
Financial statements reveal that Upwork continues to utilize stock-based compensation, with quarterly charges frequently exceeding $15 million, which complicates the interpretation of GAAP net income and suggests that reported earnings may overstate the cash-generative capacity of the underlying business model for common shareholders.
The persistent reliance on equity-based incentives creates a wedge between accounting profitability and actual cash flow generation. Analysts should carefully adjust for these non-cash expenses to determine the true economic earnings power of the platform, especially given the recent volatility in quarterly net income figures.
Data from the most recent periods indicates that Upwork's revenue growth has slowed to low single digits, raising concerns that the platform's value proposition is increasingly vulnerable to disintermediation and the rapid integration of generative AI tools into standard corporate workflows.
Short-term margin expansion may be masking a fundamental erosion of the platform's long-term growth narrative. If the company cannot successfully pivot its service offerings to capture value from AI-augmented labor, the current valuation may prove difficult to justify as the growth profile continues to converge toward zero.
Quick answers to the most common questions about buying UPWK stock.
For fiscal year 2025, Upwork Inc. (UPWK) reported total revenue of $787.8M. This represents a 379.1% increase compared to $164.4M in 2016.
Upwork Inc. (UPWK) is profitable, generating $115.4M in net income for the fiscal year ending 2025 with a net profit margin of 14.7%.
Upwork Inc. (UPWK) reported an operating income of $129.3M, resulting in an operating profit margin of 16.4%. This margin reflects the operational efficiency of the business before interest and taxes.
Upwork Inc. (UPWK) generated $613.0M in gross profit for the year, representing a gross profit margin of 77.8%. This demonstrates the company's core pricing power and production efficiency.