Upstart Holdings rides momentum to a 481% gain since going public

Coinbase (NASDAQ:COIN) reported massive earnings on Wednesday — jumping 3% — but there’s an even bigger fintech story for investors to pay attention to.

Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ:UPST), a consumer lending fintech, reported earnings that blew expectations out of the water — sending its stock up 26%.

What’s the big deal? Since going public in Dec, Upstart is up 481% from a wave of momentum — consistently reporting strong earnings and metrics.

• Sales grew 1,018% compared to the second quarter of 2020 (due to lower sales from COVID early last year).
• Sales for the full-year of 2021 is expected to be $750m — up from a previous forecast of $600m.

Founded by ex-Googlers, Upstart doesn’t hand out loans but partners with banks and credit lenders — who use Upstart’s AI to evaluate borrowers’ risk profiles, quicker and better:

• Analyzes 1,000+ variables to determine risks on each loan.
• Receives a fee for each loan underwritten for its partners.

The upside: Debt lending is a massive $3.6t market — historically dominated by your traditional lenders using old school FICO loan assessment techniques.

Upstart has less than 10% of the personal loans market, but it’s already venturing into the  auto loans — acquiring Prodigy Software, a software provider for auto loans lending earlier this year.

Looking forward: The entire debt market is Upstart’s oyster — with the larger mortgage and credit card market also available for Upstart to tap into.

Upstart’s future looks bright but its recent stock gains leave little room for error. And panic buying on strong earnings might not help investors:

• Upstart has a short history of jumping on strong earnings reports but pulling back significantly in the following weeks.
• In its short time as a public company, Upstart is highly volatile — meaning investors can often enter at better prices.