Gig Economy Stocks Q2 Teardown: Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) Vs The Rest

Earnings results often indicate what direction a company will take in the months ahead. With Q2 behind us, let’s have a look at Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) and its peers.

The iPhone changed the world, ushering in the era of the “always-on” internet and “on-demand” services - anything someone could want is just a few taps away. Likewise, the gig economy sprang up in a similar fashion, with a proliferation of tech-enabled freelance labor marketplaces, which work hand and hand with many on demand services. Individuals can now work on demand too. What began with tech enabled platforms that aggregated riders and drivers has expanded over the past decade to include food delivery, groceries, and now even a plumber or graphic designer are all just a few taps away.

The 6 gig economy stocks we track reported a slower Q2. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 2% while next quarter’s revenue guidance was 4.3% below.

Stocks, especially growth stocks with cash flows further into the future, had a good end of 2023. On the other hand, this year has seen more volatile stock market swings due to mixed inflation data. Luckily, gig economy stocks have performed well with share prices up 16.3% on average since the latest earnings results.

Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK)

Formed through the 2013 merger of Elance and oDesk, Upwork (NASDAQ:UPWK) is an online platform where businesses and independent professionals connect to get work done.

Upwork reported revenues of $193.1 million, up 14.5% year on year. This print was in line with analysts’ expectations, but overall, it was a weak quarter for the company with a miss of analysts’ gmv estimates and underwhelming revenue guidance for the next quarter.

“We produced strong revenue growth of 15% year-over-year and our highest-ever net income amid a challenging and dynamic macroeconomic environment,” said Hayden Brown, President and CEO, Upwork.

Upwork delivered the weakest full-year guidance update of the whole group. Unsurprisingly, the stock is down 6.2% since reporting and currently trades at $9.82.

Is now the time to buy Upwork? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Best Q2: DoorDash (NYSE:DASH)

Founded by Stanford students with the intent to build “the local, on-demand FedEx", DoorDash (NYSE:DASH) operates an on-demand food delivery platform.

DoorDash reported revenues of $2.63 billion, up 23.3% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.6%. It was a solid quarter for the company with strong growth in its requests and a decent beat of analysts’ request estimates.

The market seems happy with the results as the stock is up 19.6% since reporting. It currently trades at $129.53.

Is now the time to buy DoorDash? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.

Slowest Q2: Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR)

Based in Tel Aviv, Fiverr (NYSE:FVRR) operates a fixed price global freelance marketplace for digital services.

Fiverr reported revenues of $94.66 million, up 5.9% year on year, in line with analysts’ expectations. It was a weak quarter for the company with a miss of analysts’ buyer estimates.

Fiverr posted the highest full-year guidance raise but had the weakest performance against analyst estimates in the group. The company reported 3.89 million active buyers, down 7.9% year on year. Interestingly, the stock is up 20% since the results and currently trades at $26.30.

Read our full analysis of Fiverr’s results here.

Lyft (NASDAQ:LYFT)

Founded by Logan Green and John Zimmer as a long-distance intercity carpooling company Zimride, Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT) operates a ridesharing network in the US and Canada.

Lyft reported revenues of $1.44 billion, up 40.6% year on year, surpassing analysts’ expectations by 3.6%. Overall, it was a strong quarter for the company with exceptional revenue growth and solid growth in its users.

Lyft achieved the biggest analyst estimates beat and fastest revenue growth among its peers. The company reported 23.7 million users, up 10.3% year on year. The stock is up 6.6% since reporting and currently trades at $11.69.

Read our full, actionable report on Lyft here, it’s free.

Uber (NYSE:UBER)

Born out of a winter night thought: "What if you could request a ride from your phone?" Uber (NYSE: UBER) operates a global network of on demand services, most prominently ride hailing and food delivery, and freight.

Uber reported revenues of $10.7 billion, up 15.9% year on year, surpassing analysts’ expectations by 1%. More broadly, it was a decent quarter for the company with strong growth in its users but slow revenue growth.

The company reported 156 million users, up 13.9% year on year. The stock is up 25.7% since reporting and currently trades at $73.50.

Read our full, actionable report on Uber here, it’s free.

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