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ValueScreener company report

Upwork Inc. (UPWK)

NASDAQ / Industrials / Staffing & Employment Services

Share price

8.74 USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026

Market capitalisation

1.09B USD Market dataClose of Oct 15, 2026
Market data
Oct 15, 2026
Filed accounts
FY2025, filed Feb 13, 2026
Ratios computed
Oct 15, 2026
Filed years
10, FY2016 to FY2025
Four kinds of sourceSEC filingCompany statementMarket dataComputedWhat each means
SEC filingFiled with the SEC
Read from a statement the company filed with the SEC, with the form, fiscal year, filing date and accession beside it.
Company statementCompany statement
What the company says about itself in a filing: an 8-K item, the auditor, its own segment names.
Market dataMarket data
Prices, market value and what analysts publish, with the date they are as of.
ComputedComputed by ValueScreener
Worked out by us from the other three, with the inputs and the formula one press away. A score is a research output, not a rating or a recommendation.
Reading

1 of 10

Overview

What the business is, what it costs, and how it reads on four questions.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Four questions, at a glance

Quality

Return on invested capital, after tax

13.8% Computed

From the FY2025 filing

Read quality

Valuation

Price to earnings

10.05x Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read valuation

Cash generation

Free cash flow yield

19.7% Computed

FY2025 accounts, priced at the latest close

Read cash generation

Revenue and net income, as filed

FY2016 Revenue: 164.4M USDFY2016 Net income: -16.2M USDFY2017 Revenue: 202.6M USDFY2017 Net income: -4.1M USDFY2018 Revenue: 253.4M USDFY2018 Net income: -19.9M USDFY2019 Revenue: 300.6M USDFY2019 Net income: -16.7M USDFY2020 Revenue: 373.6M USDFY2020 Net income: -22.9M USDFY2021 Revenue: 502.8M USDFY2021 Net income: -56.2M USDFY2022 Revenue: 618.3M USDFY2022 Net income: -89.9M USDFY2023 Revenue: 689.1M USDFY2023 Net income: 46.9M USDFY2024 Revenue: 769.3M USDFY2024 Net income: 215.6M USDFY2025 Revenue: 787.8M USDFY2025 Net income: 115.4M USD
Revenue Net income10 filed fiscal years, from the annual reports; the table in Filings names each document.
Named tests met
5 of 30 Which tests
The business, and the score behind its five axes

The reading, in brief

Is it cheap

Price to earnings is 10.05x at the close of 2026-10-15 on FY2025 figures; the lines are 15.00x (Graham's defensive ceiling) and, by market convention, 10.00x, 25.00x and 40.00x, and this sits between 10.00x and 15.00x.

Today, against the Industrials sector (412 companies), 10.05x sits at the 16th percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 15.04x to 38.40x.

Is it good

Return on invested capital was 13.8% in FY2025, in the band labelled "Above the cost of capital" (12.0% to 20.0%), on lines anchored on Damodaran's cost-of-capital data.

Today, against the Industrials sector (316 companies), 13.8% sits at the 72nd percentile; the middle half of that group runs from 3.4% to 15.3%.

Is it safe

Net debt to EBITDA was 0.50x in FY2025, in the band labelled "Low leverage" (below 1.00x), on lines set by credit-analyst convention, suggesting debt that a year or so of operating earnings would repay.

Year by year against peers
Whether Upwork Inc.'s return on equity stayed above the median of the Industrials sector, year by year. (FY2023 to FY2025, 3 fiscal years of Upwork Inc. with a comparable figure)
The direction
Which way Upwork Inc.'s gross margin has moved, and how steadily. (FY2016 to FY2025, 10 filed years of Upwork Inc.)
What could explain it
What in Upwork Inc.'s filed statements could explain the movements. (7 readings drawn from the statement lines Upwork Inc. filed)
What to check next
What to check next on Upwork Inc., and where in its filings. (2 questions for Upwork Inc.)
In one paragraph
One paragraph on Upwork Inc.'s returns, cash, balance sheet and price. (14 of sixteen figures read for Upwork Inc.)

These are UPWK’s filed figures. The research desk says what they mean, against peers and its own years, with what to check next.

Research UPWKPart of Serious. New accounts start with 30 days of Professional, free, no card.

2 of 10

What changed

The newest filing, what it moved, and when the next one is due.

SEC filingCompany statement

The newest accounts on file are the FY2025 annual report: 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, accession 0001627475-26-000012.

3 of 10

Quality

The returns the business earns on its capital, and the margins behind them.

SEC filingComputed

Upwork Inc: returns on capital and margins, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Return on invested capital, after tax13.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Return on equity18.3% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Return on capital employed, pre-tax19.9% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Return on assets8.9% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Gross margin77.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Operating margin16.4% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Net margin14.7% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
UPWK 14.7%
BBSI 4.4%KFRC 2.6%NSP -0.1%KELYA -6.0%ZIP -7.3%
-7.3%14.7%
Net margin: UPWK against the 5 companies named under Valuation context, each as filed for its own latest year. Placement only: no average is drawn.

4 of 10

Financial strength

What it owes against what it owns, and whether it can meet what falls due.

SEC filingComputedCompany statement

Upwork Inc: leverage, liquidity and distress, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Debt to equity0.59 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Current ratio1.46 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Quick ratio1.46 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Interest coverage
Why n/a

No interest expense is filed for this year, so coverage is not computed.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Altman Z-score2.35 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Net debt-301.6M ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Total assets 1.30BTotal liabilities 669.3MShareholders' equity 630.3MOwnsOwes, and equity
Total assets Total liabilities Shareholders’ equity
The balance sheet, line by line

Financial health

What Upwork Inc owned and owed at the end of fiscal 2025, from the balance sheet it filed (10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012).

Upwork Inc: balance sheet position
Total assets1.30B FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026
Total liabilities669.3M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026
Shareholders' equity630.3M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026
Cash672.8M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026
Total debt371.1M FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026
Net debt-301.6M
Current ratio1.46
Debt to equity0.59
  • Interest cover: FY2025: No interest expense is filed for this year, so coverage is not computed.

Read from the filed balance sheet for each year, with the income statement of the same year supplying operating profit where a ratio needs it. Nothing here is a view on whether this company is sound.

5 of 10

Valuation context

What the market charges for it, against its own record and companies like it.

Market dataSEC filingComputed

Upwork Inc: what the market charges, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Price to earnings10.05x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
P/E on trailing twelve months11.18x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · Trailing four quarters, each as known on the day; the quarterly filings are listed under Filings
Price to book1.95x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Price to sales1.56x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Enterprise value to EBIT10.10x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Enterprise value to EBITDA8.43x ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Price to earnings over growth
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Diluted earnings per share0.84 USD FiledFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Graham number9.37 USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012

We publish no fair value or price target of our own. Value UPWK on your own assumptions in the DCF workbench, starting from the filed figures.

Its own record, and companies like it

Valuation

What the market charges for Upwork Inc today, and the multiples it has carried. No value of ours: the figures are the filings’ and the market’s.

Upwork Inc: valuation
Share price8.74 USD
Market capitalisation1.09B USD
Enterprise value to EBITDA8.43x
Graham number9.37 USD
Diluted earnings per share, FY20250.84 USD

Price to earnings on trailing twelve months, a different basis from the fiscal-year P/E above, since May 8, 2019: low 6.91x, median 11.79x, high 231.33x, latest 11.18x. 666 trading days with a meaningful ratio, 1,202 more on a loss and left out. Each close over the trailing twelve months of earnings as known that day: a quarter counts from the day it was filed.

Companies like Upwork Inc

  1. Barrett Business Services, Inc. (BBSI)Market cap 783.8M USD
  2. Kforce Inc. (KFRC)Market cap 926.3M USD
  3. Insperity, Inc. (NSP)Market cap 1.94B USD
  4. Kelly Services, Inc. (KELYA)Market cap 540.8M USD
  5. ZipRecruiter, Inc. (ZIP)Market cap 398.8M USD

Same industry (Staffing & Employment Services) and size band (Small, 300M to 2B), nearest in market value, net margin and current ratio. Each of those counts equally, by how many of the companies considered sit between the two on it. Closest first: the order is likeness and nothing else.

6 of 10

Cash generation

Whether profit arrives as cash, and what is paid back to shareholders.

SEC filingComputed

Upwork Inc: cash generation and what is paid out, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Free cash flow yield19.7% ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Free cash flow242.5M USD ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Free cash flow margin30.8% ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Dividend yield
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026 · FY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Payout ratio
Why n/a

We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

n/a ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
FY2016 Free cash flow: 2.3M USDFY2016 Net income: -16.2M USDFY2017 Free cash flow: -5.8M USDFY2017 Net income: -4.1M USDFY2018 Free cash flow: 10.7M USDFY2018 Net income: -19.9M USDFY2019 Free cash flow: -9.7M USDFY2019 Net income: -16.7M USDFY2020 Free cash flow: 16.0M USDFY2020 Net income: -22.9M USDFY2021 Free cash flow: 9.8M USDFY2021 Net income: -56.2M USDFY2022 Free cash flow: 10.2M USDFY2022 Net income: -89.9M USDFY2023 Free cash flow: 52.0M USDFY2023 Net income: 46.9M USDFY2024 Free cash flow: 150.0M USDFY2024 Net income: 215.6M USDFY2025 Free cash flow: 242.5M USDFY2025 Net income: 115.4M USD
Free cash flow Net incomeProfit that arrives as cash stands level with net income; a gap year after year is worth reading about.

7 of 10

Filings

Every figure, the year it is for and the document it was read from.

SEC filingMarket data

The filed figures

Computed from the accounts this company filed with the SEC and, in a ratio with a price in it, the last close, dated on this page. Every filed figure below carries the fiscal year and the filing date its accounts were read from, and every blank carries the reason it is blank. Nothing here is a view on this company.

Upwork Inc.: the eight ratios, with the fiscal year and filing date behind each.
FigureValueYearAs of
10.05xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
1.95xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
10.10xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
19.7%FY2025Oct 15, 2026
13.8%FY2025Feb 13, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/a The filed cash flow statement reports no dividend paid at all. That is not the same as a filed zero, and we will not read it as one.
0.59FY2025Feb 13, 2026
1.46FY2025Feb 13, 2026
1.56xFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/aFY2025Oct 15, 2026
n/a This figure compares a year against the one before it, and we hold one filed year for this company.
2.35FY2025Oct 15, 2026
-3.76FY2025Feb 13, 2026
6/9FY2025Feb 13, 2026

The figures are computed from the accounts for fiscal 2025, the newest full year on file. 10 filed fiscal years on record, FY2016 to FY2025, from SEC EDGAR. Prices as of Oct 15, 2026. Ratios recomputed Oct 15, 2026. Two facts, because a recompute is not a fresh quote.

The year and the filing date name the statement each figure’s accounts are read from, and they stand even where the figure itself could not be computed: the line beneath a blank says what that statement did not carry. A figure’s name opens its formula and the filings behind it; a statement that names no SEC filing has no filing date, and reads n/a.

Ten years of filed figures, year by year

Ten years of filed figures

10 filed fiscal years, FY2016 to FY2025, read from the annual reports Upwork Inc filed with the SEC. Each year names its filing. Amounts in USD, as filed.

Upwork Inc: revenue, earnings, free cash flow and returns, by fiscal year, with the filing each year was read from
YearRevenueOperating incomeNet incomeEPS, dilutedFree cash flowOperating marginReturn on equityFiling
FY2025787.8M129.3M115.4M0.84242.5M16.4%18.3%10-K, Feb 13, 20260001627475-26-000012
FY2024769.3M65.2M215.6M1.52150.0M8.5%37.5%10-K, Feb 13, 20250001627475-25-000011
FY2023689.1M-11.3M46.9M0.0652.0M-1.6%12.3%10-K, Feb 15, 20240001627475-24-000012
FY2022618.3M-92.6M-89.9M-0.6910.2M-15.0%-36.1%10-K, Feb 16, 20230001627475-23-000010
FY2021502.8M-54.2M-56.2M-0.449.8M-10.8%-21.7%10-K, Feb 15, 20220001627475-22-000009
FY2020373.6M-22.4M-22.9M-0.1916.0M-6.0%-7.6%10-K, Feb 24, 20210001627475-21-000015
FY2019300.6M-18.7M-16.7M-0.15-9.7M-6.2%-6.4%10-K, Mar 2, 20200001627475-20-000006
FY2018253.4M-11.7M-19.9M-0.3810.7M-4.6%-8.2%10-K, Mar 7, 20190001627475-19-000007
FY2017202.6M-3.1M-4.1M-0.32-5.8M-1.5%n/m10-K, Mar 7, 20190001627475-19-000007
FY2016164.4M-14.5M-16.2M-0.512.3M-8.8%n/a10-K, Mar 7, 20190001627475-19-000007
  • Revenue, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 19.0%
  • Earnings: Earnings was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Earnings per share: Earnings per share was not positive in both 2016 and 2025, so a compound rate across the window is not defined. Both figures are in the table.
  • Free cash flow, compound annual growth FY2016 to FY2025: 67.8%

Every figure in this section is a line of a filed annual statement or a ratio of two of them. Nothing here is estimated or smoothed. Earnings per share filed before a share split are put on today's share count, and say so. Nothing here is a verdict on the company.

8 of 10

Risks and guardrails

The accounting screens, the published tests, and the lines you can set to be told.

ComputedCompany statement

Upwork Inc: accounting screens and published tests, each with its source
FigureValue, source and document
Beneish M-score-3.76 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Piotroski F-score6/9 ComputedFY2025 10-K, filed Feb 13, 2026, 0001627475-26-000012
Named tests met5 of 30 Computed
Beta1.21 ComputedClose of Oct 15, 2026

The named tests

Of 30 tests value investors published: 5 met, 21 not met, 4 we could not complete. Counts, never a score: a single figure would have to decide that meeting one investor’s criteria and meeting another’s are worth the same.

Which tests, by name(all 30)
Meets
ROIC at or above WACC; P/E times P/B (Benjamin Graham); Owner earnings yield; Cash-flow yield and ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/E (David Dreman)
Does not
Defensive investor (Benjamin Graham); Deep value; Large cap, low P/E; Earnings yield and ROIC (Joel Greenblatt); High F-score, low P/B (Joseph Piotroski); Three forensic scores; Low PEG, low debt (Peter Lynch); High returns and growth; Gross margin, turnover (Robert Novy-Marx); EV/EBITDA and coverage; Low beta, profitable; Near the 52-week low; Z-score and coverage (Edward Altman); Two thirds of NCAV (Benjamin Graham); High returns, low debt; High return on tangibles; Low P/S, rising earnings (James O'Shaughnessy); Book or below, low debt (Walter Schloss); Tangible book or below; Clean books, high ROIC; Cheapest quarter on P/B (David Dreman)
Not measured
High yield, low payout; Dividends and buybacks; Cash-covered dividend; Low P/E, growth, yield (John Neff). A test with a figure we could not read is incomplete, never met and never failed.
Figures we could not read(7)
  • PEG Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Eps Growth 5Y: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Interest Coverage: No interest expense is filed for this year, so coverage is not computed.
  • Dividend Yield: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Payout Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Coverage Ratio: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.
  • Dividend Streak: We do not hold this figure for this company, so there is nothing to show.

9 of 10

Declared positions

Whether anybody here owns this company.

Positions declared by Javier Sanz Alvarez: no holding in any company shown here, as of October 3, 2026.

10 of 10

Next step

What to do with what you have read.

A thesis is your reason for owning it, in your words, with the figures that must stay true. Checking those figures every night against the newest filed accounts, and telling you once when one breaks, is what the subscription adds.

More on this company

What this cannot tell you

  • 7 figures could not be read on this company, among them PEG Ratio, Eps Growth 5Y, Interest Coverage. Each blank in the table above names the rest, with its reason. 4 named tests come back incomplete because of them, which is neither met nor missed.

And the one that is true of all of it: This is what the numbers say today. It cannot tell you the day one of them stops being true. Nothing here can, because the reasons are not written down.

Running this once is arithmetic on public documents and you are welcome to it. Writing down why you own each company, in your own words and with the numbers that have to stay true for it to hold, and then having those numbers re-checked every night against the newest filed accounts, and against the latest close where a rule watches a price, is Professional, the plan a new account starts on for 30 days, one trial per person. It writes to you the day one breaks, and stays quiet when nothing does. The check runs every night at 23:30 UTC. A filing is picked up the night after it is published.

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ValueScreener · valuescreener.ai · Computed from accounts filed with the SEC by this company, read from EDGAR, and from dated closing prices. On this page a filed figure opens into its formula, its inputs and the statement, fiscal year and filing date it was read from, and a price into the day of its close. A figure that cannot show that trail says so.

A computation on accounts filed with the SEC, not a recommendation and not advice. Past filings do not indicate future results. Risk disclaimer.

Once a week, what changed in the filings of US-listed companies, why it can matter to a thesis, and what deserves a closer review. Grounded in filings, not market noise.

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Risk disclaimer. This service is provided for research and education only. Nothing on it is investment advice, a recommendation, or an offer to buy or sell any security. Capital is at risk, and past performance does not indicate future results. Figures come from filed accounts and may be incomplete, delayed or later restated, so verify a number against the filing before you act on it.