Upwork Inc. (UPWK) shares climbed Tuesday after the freelance platform wrapped up its 2025 investor day with some eye-catching numbers and a heavy dose of AI enthusiasm.
The Big Picture
Management spent the day walking investors through what they're calling a complete business reinvention over the past three years. CEO Hayden Brown wasn't shy about the stakes, saying the company has "leveraged its track record of innovation to build a formidable, enduring growth engine." She added that Upwork achieved a return to Growth Services Volume (GSV) growth two quarters ahead of schedule and is now "entering Upwork's most exciting chapter yet, with a new, AI-native platform built to serve businesses of all sizes."
The AI theme dominated the presentation. Upwork is betting big on AI-powered workflows, particularly through its AI work agent called Uma. The company also plans to accelerate growth in AI-related work categories on the platform and integrate AI agents more broadly. The payoff? Upwork expects more than $100 million in incremental 2025 gross services volume from this AI strategy alone.
The Numbers
For 2026, Upwork guided for GSV growth between 4% and 6%, with revenue growth expected to run 6% to 8%. The company projects an adjusted EBITDA margin of approximately 29% next year.
Looking further out, Upwork introduced 2028 financial targets showing a compound annual growth rate of 13% to 15% for revenue and 7% to 9% for GSV. Adjusted EBITDA is expected to grow by approximately 20% annually by 2028.
CFO Erica Gessert joined Brown and other executives in describing how the company has "rewired its operations" to reimagine flexible work in the AI era.
Price Action: Upwork shares were up 7.04% at $17.32 at the time of publication Tuesday.
