Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Price Target Cut to $37.00 by Analysts at Needham & Company LLC

Key Points

• Analyst update: Needham cut its price target to $37 (from $40) but kept a "buy" rating—its target implies roughly a 28.9% upside from the prior close, while MarketBeat shows a consensus "Hold" and an average analyst target of $46.93.
• Q1 weak profit print: Upstart missed on EPS ($0.30 vs. $0.39 est.) and adjusted EBITDA despite revenue growing 44.3% to $308.2M, and the stock fell to $28.70 following the results.
• Mixed signals and risk: Several firms have cut targets and multiple securities‑class‑action filings increase headline/legal risk, even as the board authorized a $100M share buyback (about 3.2% of shares), signaling management thinks the stock may be undervalued.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) had its price target lowered by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC from $40.00 to $37.00 in a research report issued on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports. The brokerage currently has a "buy" rating on the stock. Needham & Company LLC's price objective suggests a potential upside of 28.92% from the company's previous close.

UPST has been the topic of several other reports. Compass Point raised shares of Upstart from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d+)" rating on shares of Upstart in a report on Friday, March 27th. Zacks Research raised shares of Upstart from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 13th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $43.00 target price on shares of Upstart in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market underperform" rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Upstart 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 issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $46.93.

Upstart Price Performance

NASDAQ:UPST traded down $2.47 on Wednesday, hitting $28.70. 9,766,807 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,022,829. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $28.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $38.30. Upstart has a 52 week low of $23.97 and a 52 week high of $87.30. The company has a market cap of $2.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 68.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 2.26.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.39 by ($0.09). Upstart had a return on equity of 6.30% and a net margin of 5.13%.The business had revenue of $308.21 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $301.30 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 44.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Upstart will post 0.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Upstart news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 276,688 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,261,903.68. This represents a 2.80% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 9,481 shares of company stock valued at $282,201. 16.67% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Kera Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in Upstart by 69.8% in the 1st quarter. Kera Capital Partners Inc. now owns 22,947 shares of the company's stock valued at $589,000 after acquiring an additional 9,432 shares during the period. Independent Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Upstart in the 1st quarter valued at about $206,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its holdings in Upstart by 274.4% in the 1st quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,842 shares of the company's stock valued at $47,000 after acquiring an additional 1,350 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Upstart by 28.3% in the 1st quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,059 shares of the company's stock valued at $661,000 after acquiring an additional 5,755 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Bancorp raised its holdings in Upstart by 726.2% in the 1st quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 4,957 shares of the company's stock valued at $127,000 after acquiring an additional 4,357 shares during the period. 63.01% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Upstart News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: CEO visibility — Upstart’s co‑founder and CEO will appear in a fireside chat at the J.P. Morgan Global TMT Conference, providing management a platform to discuss strategy and respond to investor questions. Business Wire: CEO Fireside Chat
• Positive Sentiment: Partnership momentum — Upstart announced a partnership with Justice Federal Credit Union to expand use of its lending platform, a sign of commercial traction that can support revenue growth. Yahoo Finance: Partnership
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts still constructive despite cuts — B. Riley trimmed its target to $54 (from $66) but kept a buy rating, and other firms reaffirmed buy/overweight stances, signaling that some investors view current weakness as a buying opportunity. MarketScreener: B. Riley target cut
• Neutral Sentiment: Piper Sandler lowered its target to $46 from $56 but kept an Overweight rating — the cut reflects concern after an adjusted‑EBITDA miss but the maintained rating tempers the sell signal. 247WallStreet: Piper Sandler note
• Negative Sentiment: Q1 earnings shortfall — Upstart reported a Q1 EPS miss (company reported a loss vs. consensus) and an adjusted EBITDA miss that triggered selling; revenue grew but the profitability miss and widening loss hurt near‑term sentiment. Business Wire: Q1 Results
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple securities‑class‑action filings and law‑firm notices — Several firms (Pomerantz, Rosen, Faruqi, Bernstein Liebhard, Levi & Korsinsky, etc.) have announced suits or investor notices covering the May–Nov 2025 class period and a June 8 deadline for lead‑plaintiff applications, increasing legal and headline risk. GlobeNewswire: Pomerantz filing GlobeNewswire: Rosen notice
• Negative Sentiment: Broader analyst target cuts after earnings — Beyond Piper, coverage notes that Morgan Stanley and Goldman previously cut targets (cited in industry alerts), adding to downward pressure as sell‑side models are repriced lower. GlobeNewswire: Analyst target coverage mention

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.