Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) Shares Gap Up – Here’s Why

Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:UPST)’s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Wednesday . The stock had previously closed at $29.53, but opened at $31.05. Upstart shares last traded at $31.4860, with a volume of 1,483,940 shares traded.

Upstart News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Upstart this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks upgraded UPST from “strong sell” to “hold,” which can provide short-term analyst support and reduce immediate selling pressure. Zacks Upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Bullish coverage (The Motley Fool) has promoted Upstart’s AI-driven lending and a planned AI-powered bank as a transformative growth narrative; this is speculative and may attract retail interest but is not an immediate fundamental catalyst. Prediction: This AI Stock Is Going to Double
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent trading/coverage showed a modest uptick on Apr 13 as the stock trended on Zacks/Yahoo, indicating heightened investor interest that can amplify moves in either direction. Upstart Beats Stock Market Upswing (Yahoo)
• Negative Sentiment: A broad set of plaintiff law firms has announced class actions or solicitations for investors who bought UPST between May 14, 2025 and Nov 4, 2025, alleging securities law violations tied to purported failures in AI model calibration and related disclosures — these developments raise legal, financial and reputational risk and are the primary driver of downside pressure. Lead-plaintiff deadlines (commonly June 8, 2026 in these notices) and multiple firms (examples below) have amplified the story. Levi & Korsinsky Investor Alert Berger Montague Notice

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have commented on UPST. Compass Point upgraded shares of Upstart from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $20.00 to $30.00 in a research note on Tuesday, February 17th. Citizens Jmp restated a “market underperform” rating and issued a $20.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Friday, February 13th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Upstart in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Citigroup lowered shares of Upstart from a “buy” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Friday, February 13th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Upstart from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $48.00.

Upstart Stock Up 11.1%

The firm has a market cap of $3.22 billion, a PE ratio of 78.54, a P/E/G ratio of 0.73 and a beta of 2.16. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $28.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $39.99.

Upstart (NASDAQ:UPST) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 10th. The company reported $0.17 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.15 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $296.09 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $288.54 million. Upstart had a net margin of 5.13% and a return on equity of 6.30%. The firm’s revenue was up 35.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.26 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Upstart Holdings, Inc. will post -0.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Upstart announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, February 19th that authorizes the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 3.2% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Sanjay Datta sold 7,982 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.86, for a total transaction of $238,342.52. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 276,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,261,903.68. The trade was a 2.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Insiders have sold a total of 9,481 shares of company stock worth $282,201 over the last quarter. 16.67% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Upstart

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clearstead Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Upstart in the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Upstart in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Quarry LP raised its position in shares of Upstart by 749.2% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 501 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 442 shares during the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. increased its position in Upstart by 132.2% during the third quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 771 shares of the company’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 439 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Upstart during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 63.01% of the company’s stock.

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.