Upwork Announces Financial Guidance Updates and Q2 Results

UPWK reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of $191.7 million, down 1.7% year-over-year but landing at the high end of its own guidance range, while adjusted EBITDA of $64.1 million beat the company's outlook.

Beneath the Q2 beat on its own targets, gross services volume, the total value of work transacted on the platform, fell 4% year-over-year to $966.4 million, and GAAP net income dropped 22% to $25.4 million, or $0.20 per diluted share, versus $0.24 a year earlier.

The bigger concern was forward guidance. For Q3, Upwork guided revenue to $176 million-$184 million and non-GAAP EPS of $0.31-$0.33, and the company cut its full-year 2026 outlook to $730 million-$750 million in revenue and roughly $225 million-$235 million in adjusted EBITDA. Management cited accelerating AI-driven automation, weaker Google search referral traffic, and a subdued freelance labor market.

Shares fell roughly 20% on the guidance cut, even as management pointed to AI-related freelance work as a continued bright spot within an otherwise slowing marketplace. Investors will be watching whether Q3 results confirm the deceleration or whether AI-adjacent demand offsets the broader search and automation headwinds.

Related Stocks

• FDS
• GOOGL