Upwork Unveils "The New Upwork" and Outlines Long-Term Growth Strategy at 2025 Investor Day
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Nov 18 2025
0mins
Source: Newsfilter
Growth Strategy and Financial Outlook: Upwork Inc. has outlined a long-term growth strategy, forecasting significant revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth through 2028, driven by AI integration and expansion into SMB and enterprise markets.
Transforming Human + AI Work: The company is focusing on enhancing AI-powered workflows and integrating AI agents to improve customer experience, with expectations of generating over $100 million in incremental GSV in 2025.
Accelerating SMB Growth: Upwork is targeting the $530 billion SMB market with its Business Plus offering, designed to attract higher-spending clients and improve retention rates.
Unlocking Enterprise Expansion: The launch of Upwork's subsidiary, Lifted, aims to capture the $650 billion contingent labor market by providing a comprehensive solution for large organizations to manage contingent talent.
Get Free Real-Time Notifications for Any Stock
Monitor tickers like UPWK with instant alerts to capture every critical market movement.
Sign up for free to build your custom watchlist and receive professional-grade stock notifications.
Analyst Views on UPWK
Wall Street analysts forecast UPWK stock price to rise over the next 12 months. According to Wall Street analysts, the average 1-year price target for UPWK is 23.33 USD with a low forecast of 17.00 USD and a high forecast of 28.00 USD. However, analyst price targets are subjective and often lag stock prices, so investors should focus on the objective reasons behind analyst rating changes, which better reflect the company's fundamentals.
10 Analyst Rating
6 Buy
4 Hold
0 Sell
Moderate Buy
Current: 20.510
Low
17.00
Averages
23.33
High
28.00
Current: 20.510
Low
17.00
Averages
23.33
High
28.00
About UPWK
Upwork Inc. operates a working marketplace, which connects businesses with independent talent. The Company's independent talent refers to the talent that includes independent professionals and agencies of varying sizes. The Company’s marketplace offerings are designed for clients looking to identify hiring. Its marketplace offerings provide clients with access to independent talent with verified work history on its work marketplace, as well as client feedback. They also receive perks, such as a verified client badge and highlighted job posts. Upwork Payroll is available to clients when they choose to work with talent that they engage through Upwork as employees. With Upwork Payroll, clients have access to third-party staffing providers to employ talent and meet their talent needs through its work marketplace. It offers two lines of service: managed services and enterprise solutions. Its managed services offer a service-led program management and full project lifecycle solution.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Upwork Reports 19% Rise in Human Resource Demand to Address AI Challenges
- Rising Human Resource Demand: Upwork's report indicates a 19% month-over-month increase in demand for quality assurance testing, as businesses enhance human resources to boost confidence in digital and AI systems, thereby ensuring product quality and market competitiveness.
- Surge in AI Skill Demand: Demand for AI and machine learning-related roles grew by 16%, highlighting that as companies rapidly adopt AI, they recognize the need for more human expertise to train and validate these systems, addressing operational gaps.
- Creative Skills Demand Soars: Language tutoring and interpretation needs surged by 48%, as businesses increasingly prioritize human-centered communication and creativity in projects to enhance originality and contextual relevance in work outputs.
- Holiday Season Hiring Continues: With the holiday season approaching, hiring demand in e-commerce development and marketing remains strong, with 40% of businesses planning to hire independent digital marketing professionals in the next three months to support sales and brand strategies.
Continue Reading
Sandisk Replaces Interpublic in S&P 500 Index
- Index Changes: Sandisk Corp. will replace Interpublic Group in the S&P 500 on November 28, 2025, highlighting its growing significance and likely attracting increased investor attention.
- Acquisition Activity: Omnicom Group is acquiring Interpublic Group, with the deal expected to close soon, which may influence market perceptions and investment strategies in the advertising sector.
- Small Cap Adjustments: PTC Therapeutics will replace Sandisk in the S&P SmallCap 600, reflecting ongoing investor interest in the biotechnology sector and favoring emerging companies.
- Industry Restructuring: Upwork will replace Premier in the S&P SmallCap 600, indicating market recognition of flexible employment platforms and potentially driving further growth in related industries.
Continue Reading