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If you buy and hold a stock for many years, you'd hope to be making a profit. But more than that, you probably want to see it rise more than the market average. Unfortunately for shareholders, while the Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) share price is up 70% in the last five years, that's less than the market return. Looking at the last year alone, the stock is up 12%.
So let's assess the underlying fundamentals over the last 5 years and see if they've moved in lock-step with shareholder returns.
View our latest analysis for Upwork
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
During the last half decade, Upwork became profitable. That would generally be considered a positive, so we'd hope to see the share price to rise.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
We know that Upwork has improved its bottom line over the last three years, but what does the future have in store? If you are thinking of buying or selling Upwork stock, you should check out this FREE detailed report on its balance sheet.
A Different Perspective
Upwork shareholders gained a total return of 12% during the year. But that return falls short of the market. On the bright side, that's still a gain, and it's actually better than the average return of 11% over half a decade This suggests the company might be improving over time. Before spending more time on Upwork it might be wise to click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling shares.
If you like to buy stocks alongside management, then you might just love this free list of companies. (Hint: many of them are unnoticed AND have attractive valuation).
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on American exchanges.
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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.