Upwork Reports Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results


  • Gross services volume (GSV) increased by 27% year-over-year to $449.5 million
  • Revenue increased by 23% year-over-year to $64.1 million
  • Core clients grew 22​%​ year-over-year to 101,000
  • Client spend retention increased to 108%, up from 95% a year ago

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., Nov. 07, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Upwork Inc. (Nasdaq: UPWK), ​the largest freelancing website, as measured by GSV, today announced its third quarter 2018 financial results.

“We are pleased that in our first earnings report as a public company we recorded strength across the business, driven by both new clients and expanded relationships with our core clients,” said Stephane Kasriel, CEO of Upwork.  “Through our innovation, Upwork is a leading force in creating a better future of work. Our continued success is fueling our mission to create economic opportunities so people have better lives.”

Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results & Highlights

  • Revenue​:  Marketplace revenue for the third quarter increased 23% year-over-year to $56.8 million, while managed services revenue was up 21% year-over-year to $7.3 million
  • Take Rate:​  Take rate, which we define as revenue divided by GSV, in the third quarter was 14.3% net losses compared to 14.8% a year ago
  • Gross Margin: ​ Gross margin was 68%, remaining consistent year-over-year
  • Net Loss:​  Net loss was $7.3 million compared to a net loss of $0.3 million a year ago.  Non-GAAP net loss was $1.4 million compared to a non-GAAP net income of $1.9 million a year ago 
  • Adjusted EBITDA:  Adjusted EBITDA was ($0.1) million in the third quarter compared to $2.8 million a year ago

A reconciliation of non-GAAP net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net income (loss) are provided at the end of this press release.

Guidance
As of November 7, 2018, Upwork is initiating revenue and adjusted EBITDA guidance for its fourth quarter and full year 2018 as follows:

For the fourth quarter of 2018, Upwork expects to report:

  • Revenue in the range of $64.5 million to $66.0 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA in the range of ($0.75) million to $0.25 million

For the full year 2018, Upwork expects to report:

  • Revenue in the range of $250.5 million to $252.0 million
  • Adjusted EBITDA in the range of ($0.5) million to $0.5 million

We have not reconciled our guidance with respect to adjusted EBITDA to GAAP net income (loss) because certain items that impact adjusted EBITDA, such as stock-based compensation expense, are uncertain or out of our control, or cannot be reasonably predicted. In particular, stock-based compensation expense is impacted by our future hiring and retention needs, as well as the future fair market value of our common stock, all of which is difficult to predict and subject to constant change, and none of which is within our control. The actual amount of these expenses during 2018 will have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results. Accordingly, a reconciliation of adjusted EBITDA to net income (loss) is not available without unreasonable effort.

Third Quarter 2018 Financial Results Conference Call and Webcast
Upwork will host a conference call today at 2 p.m. Pacific Time/5 p.m. Eastern Time to discuss the company’s third quarter 2018 financial results. An audio webcast archive will be available following the live event for approximately one year at https://investors.upwork.com. The prepared remarks corresponding to the information reviewed on today’s conference call will also be available on our Investor Relations website, once the call has concluded.

Upwork uses its Investor Relations website (https://investors.upwork.com), its Twitter handle (https://twitter.com/Upwork), and Stephane Kasriel’s Twitter handle (https://twitter.com/skasriel) and LinkedIn profile (http://www.linkedin.com/in/kasriel) as means of disclosing material non-public information and for complying with its disclosure obligations under Regulation FD.

Safe Harbor Statement 
This press release includes forward-looking statements, which are statements other than statements of historical facts, and statements in the future tense. These statements include, but are not limited to, statements regarding the future performance of Upwork, including expected financial results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2018. Forward-looking statements are based upon various estimates and assumptions, as well as information known to Upwork as of the date of this press release, and are subject to risks and uncertainties.  Accordingly, actual results could differ materially or such uncertainties could cause adverse effects on our results, including: our ability to attract and retain a community of freelancers and clients; our limited operating history under our current platform and pricing model; if the market for freelancers and the services they offer develops more slowly than we expect; our ability to develop and release new products and services, and develop and release successful enhancements, features, and modifications to our existing products and services; our ability to generate revenue from our marketplace offerings; the impact of new and existing laws and regulations; competition; our ability to develop, maintain, and enhance our brand and reputation cost-effectively; challenges to contractor classification or employment status of freelancers on our platform; the market for information technology; future changes to our pricing model; payment and fraud risks; our ability to sell to large enterprise clients; litigation and related costs; privacy; security breaches; and other general market, political, economic and business conditions. Actual results could differ materially from those predicted or implied, and reported results should not be considered as an indication of future performance. 

Additional risks and uncertainties that could affect our financial results are included under the caption “Risk Factors” in our final prospectus filed pursuant to Rule 424(b) with the SEC on October 3, 2018 and our other SEC filings, which are available on the Investor Relations page of our website at https://investors.upwork.com​ and on the SEC website at ​www.sec.gov​. Additional information will also be set forth in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the three months ended September 30, 2018. All forward-looking statements contained herein are based on information available to us as of the date hereof and we do not assume any obligation to update these statements as a result of new information or future events.

Undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking statements in this press release. These statements are based on information available to Upwork on the date hereof, and Upwork assumes no obligation to update such statements.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

To supplement our condensed consolidated financial statements, which are prepared in accordance with GAAP, we present non-GAAP net income (loss) and adjusted EBITDA in this press release. Our use of non-GAAP financial measures has limitations as an analytical tool, and these measures should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for analysis of financial results as reported under GAAP.  

We use these non-GAAP financial measures in conjunction with financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP for planning purposes and as a measure of financial performance. These measures provide consistency and comparability with past financial performance, facilitates period-to-period comparisons of core operating results, and also facilitates comparisons with other peer companies, many of which use similar non-GAAP financial measures to supplement their GAAP results.  We exclude the following items from one or more of our non-GAAP financial measures:

  • Stock-based compensation expense:   We exclude stock-based compensation expense, which is a non-cash expense, from certain of our non-GAAP financial measures because we believe that excluding this item provides meaningful supplemental information regarding operational performance. In particular, companies calculate stock-based compensation expense using a variety of valuation methodologies and subjective assumptions.
  • Depreciation and amortization: We exclude depreciation and amortization, which are non-cash expenses.
  • Change in fair value of redeemable preferred stock warrant liability:  We exclude the change in fair value of redeemable preferred stock warrant liability which is a non-cash charge that will not recur in the periods following the fourth quarter of 2018.

Investors are cautioned that there are material limitations associated with the use of non-GAAP financial measures as an analytical tool.  In particular, we exclude stock-based compensation expense and depreciation and amortization are recurring and will be reflected in our financial results for the foreseeable future. The non-GAAP measures we use may be different from non-GAAP financial measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness for comparison purposes. We compensate for these limitations by providing specific information regarding the GAAP items excluded from these non-GAAP financial measures.  A reconciliation of these non-GAAP measures has been provided in the financial statement tables included in this press release and investors are encouraged to review the reconciliation.

About Upwork
Upwork is the largest freelancing website, as measured by GSV, for businesses to find and work with highly-skilled freelancers—a sought after, critical, and expanding component of the global workforce. As an increasingly connected and independent workforce goes online, knowledge work—like software, shopping, and content before it—is shifting online as well. This shift is making it easier for clients to connect and work with talent in near real-time and is freeing professionals everywhere to work where and how they want to. Upwork’s mission is to create economic opportunities so people have better lives. Upwork is headquartered in Mountain View, California, with offices in San Francisco and Chicago. For more information, visit Upwork’s website at www.upwork.com, or its Investor Relations website at https://investors.upwork.com, or join Upwork on Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn.

Upwork is a registered trademark of Upwork Inc. All other product and brand names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.


UPWORK INC.
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF OPERATIONS
(In thousands, except for per share data)
(Unaudited)

   Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30,  September 30, 
  2018  2017  2018  2017 
Revenue:                
Marketplace $56,766  $46,186  $164,180  $130,124 
Managed services  7,347   6,076   21,832   17,669 
Total revenue  64,113   52,262   186,012   147,793 
Cost of revenue  20,504   16,894   60,578   47,847 
Gross profit  43,609   35,368   125,434   99,946 
Operating expenses:                
Research and development  14,377   11,514   40,680   32,519 
Sales and marketing  18,967   13,626   55,054   37,327 
General and administrative  11,707   8,952   34,102   25,415 
Provision for transaction losses  1,892   1,073   4,612   2,857 
Total operating expenses  46,943   35,165   134,448   98,118 
Income (loss) from operations  (3,334)  203   (9,014)  1,828 
Interest expense  589   199   1,674   629 
Other expense, net  3,423   260   3,845   75 
Income (loss) before income taxes  (7,346)  (256)  (14,533)  1,124 
Income tax provision     (45)  (9)  (56)
Net income (loss) $(7,346) $(301) $(14,542) $1,068 
Undistributed earnings allocable to preferred stockholders           (1,068)
Net loss attributable to common stockholders $(7,346) $(301) $(14,542) $ 
Net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted $(0.20) $(0.01) $(0.41) $ 
Weighted-average shares used to compute net loss per share attributable to common stockholders, basic and diluted  36,070   33,299   35,129   32,760 

UPWORK INC
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

   September 30, 2018  December 31, 2017 
ASSETS        
Current assets:        
Cash $27,055  $21,595 
Funds held in escrow, including funds in transit  107,479   87,195 
Trade and client receivables  41,592   30,762 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets  5,326   4,574 
Total current assets  181,452   144,126 
Property and equipment, net  6,260   3,514 
Goodwill  118,219   118,219 
Intangible assets, net  6,671   8,672 
Other assets, noncurrent  6,240   658 
Total assets $318,842  $275,189 
         
LIABILITIES, REDEEMABLE CONVERTIBLE PREFERRED STOCK AND STOCKHOLDERS DEFICIT        
Current liabilities:        
Accounts payable $5,471  $462 
Escrow funds payable  107,479   87,195 
Debt, current  29,594   10,342 
Accrued expenses and other current liabilities  16,911   16,030 
Deferred revenue  717   614 
Total current liabilities  160,172   114,643 
Debt, noncurrent  19,304   23,491 
Other liabilities, noncurrent  6,110   1,936 
Total liabilities  185,586   140,070 
         
Redeemable convertible preferred stock  166,486   166,486 
Stockholders’ deficit:        
Common stock  4   3 
Additional paid-in capital  104,900   92,222 
Accumulated deficit  (138,134)  (123,592)
Total stockholders’ deficit  (33,230)  (31,367)
Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock, and stockholders' deficit $318,842  $275,189 

UPWORK INC
CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF CASH FLOWS
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

   Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30,  September 30, 
  2018  2017  2018  2017 
CASH FLOWS FROM OPERATING ACTIVITIES:                
Net income (loss) $(7,346) $(301) $(14,542) $1,068 
Adjustments to reconcile net income (loss) to net cash provided by (used in) operating activities:                
Provision for transaction losses  1,892   1,073   4,612   2,857 
Depreciation and amortization  1,287   1,033   3,542   3,135 
Amortization of debt issuance costs  13   26   64   40 
Change in fair value of redeemable preferred stock warrant liability  3,251   (10)  3,610   41 
Stock-based compensation expense  1,986   1,526   5,667   4,817 
Loss (gain) on disposal of fixed assets     (7)  33   (3)
Changes in operating assets and liabilities:              
Trade and client receivables  (6,517)  (3,525)  (15,137)  (7,239)
Prepaid expenses and other assets  (86)  140   (658)  183 
Accounts payable  4,745   (7)  5,006   662 
Accrued expenses and other liabilities  (17,823)  4,572   (490)  7,833 
Deferred revenue  5   (147)  103   56 
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities  (18,593)  4,373   (8,190)  13,450 
CASH FLOWS FROM INVESTING ACTIVITIES:                
Decrease (increase) in restricted cash  6      (94)  (1)
Purchases of property and equipment  (301)  (941)  (1,598)  (1,509)
Internal-use software and platform development costs  (725)  (151)  (2,670)  (392)
Net cash used in investing activities  (1,020)  (1,092)  (4,362)  (1,902)
CASH FLOWS FROM FINANCING ACTIVITIES:                
Changes in funds held in escrow, including funds in transit  (25,977)  (4,564)  (20,283)  (12,016)
Changes in escrow funds payable  25,977   4,564   20,283   12,016 
Proceeds from exercises of stock options  2,740   93   7,011   1,494 
Proceeds from exercise of redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant           260 
Proceeds from borrowings on debt  15,000   15,000   15,000   15,000 
Payment of debt issuance costs     (84)     (84)
Repayment of debt     (14,000)     (17,000)
Payments of deferred offering costs  (2,403)  (14)  (3,999)  (14)
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities  15,337   995   18,012   (344)
NET INCREASE (DECREASE) IN CASH  (4,276)  4,276   5,460   11,204 
Cash, beginning of period  31,331   34,254   21,595   27,326 
Cash, end of period $27,055  $38,530  $27,055  $38,530 

UPWORK INC
PRO FORMA BALANCE SHEET IMPACT OF IPO
(In thousands)
(Unaudited)

The table below shows, on a pro forma basis, the effect of our initial public offering (“IPO”) (in thousands; unaudited) as if we had completed the IPO as of September 30, 2018. As of September 30, 2018, we had 36.9 million common shares outstanding. We completed our IPO in October 2018, in which we issued and sold 7,840,908 shares of common stock at a public offering price of $15.00 per share. We received net proceeds of $109.4 million after deducting underwriting discounts and commissions of $8.2 million. We also repaid $10.0 million of indebtedness under our loan agreement and reclassified our redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant liability of $4.7 million to stockholders’ equity. Lastly, we reclassified deferred offering costs included in other assets to stockholders’ equity. Upon the closing of the IPO, all outstanding shares of our redeemable convertible preferred stock automatically converted into 61,279,079 shares of common stock on a one-for-one basis. On a pro-forma basis, we had approximately 106 million common shares outstanding.

  As of September 30, 2018 
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data: Actual  Pro Forma Adjustments  Pro Forma 
Cash $27,055  $99,381  $126,436 
Total current assets  181,452   99,381   280,833 
Other assets  6,240   (5,648)  592 
Total assets  318,842   93,733   412,575 
Debt, current  29,594   (10,000)  19,594 
Total current liabilities  160,172   (10,000)  150,172 
Other liabilities, noncurrent  6,110   (4,714)  1,396 
Total liabilities  185,586   (14,714)  170,872 
Redeemable convertible preferred stock  166,486   (166,486)   
Common stock  4   7   11 
Additional paid-in capital  104,900   274,926   379,826 
Total stockholders' equity (deficit)  (33,230)  274,933   241,703 
Total liabilities, redeemable convertible preferred stock, and stockholders' equity  318,842   93,733   412,575 

UPWORK INC
RECONCILIATION OF GAAP TO NON-GAAP RESULTS
(In thousands, except for per share data)
(Unaudited)

   Three Months Ended  Nine Months Ended 
  September 30,  September 30, 
  2018  2017  2018  2017 
GAAP Net Income (Loss) $(7,346) $(301) $(14,542) $1,068 
Add back:                
Stock-based compensation  1,986   1,526   5,667   4,817 
Depreciation and amortization  1,287   1,033   3,542   3,135 
Interest expense  589   199   1,674   629 
Other expense, net  3,423   260   3,845   75 
Provision for income tax     45   9   56 
Non-GAAP Adjusted EBITDA $(61) $2,762  $195  $9,780 
                 
Cost of revenue reconciliation:                
GAAP cost of revenue $20,504  $16,894  $60,578  $47,847 
Stock-based compensation  (59)  (48)  (164)  (241)
Non-GAAP cost of revenue $20,445  $16,846  $60,414  $47,606 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  32%  32%  32%  32%
                 
Gross profit and gross margin reconciliation:                
GAAP gross profit $43,609  $35,368  $125,434  $99,946 
Stock-based compensation  59   48   164   241 
Non-GAAP gross margin $43,668  $35,416  $125,598  $100,187 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  68%  68%  68%  68%
                 
Operating expenses reconciliation:                
GAAP research and development $14,377  $11,514  $40,680  $32,519 
Stock-based compensation  (623)  (432)  (1,711)  (1,271)
Non-GAAP research and development $13,754  $11,082  $38,969  $31,248 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  21%  21%  21%  21%
                 
GAAP sales and marketing $18,967  $13,626  $55,054  $37,327 
Stock-based compensation  (355)  (312)  (1,026)  (967)
Non-GAAP sales and marketing $18,612  $13,314  $54,028  $36,360 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  29%  25%  29%  25%
                 
GAAP general and administrative $11,707  $8,952  $34,102  $25,415 
Stock-based compensation  (949)  (734)  (2,766)  (2,338)
Amortization of intangible assets  (667)  (667)  (2,001)  (2,060)
Non-GAAP general and administrative $10,091  $7,551  $29,335  $21,017 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  16%  14%  16%  14%
                 
Income (loss) from operations reconciliation:                
GAAP income (loss) from operations $(3,334) $203  $(9,014) $1,828 
Stock-based compensation  1,927   1,478   5,503   4,576 
Amortization of intangible assets  667   667   2,001   2,060 
Non-GAAP income (loss) from operations $(740) $2,348  $(1,510) $8,464 
   % of revenue, non-GAAP  -1%  4%  -1%  6%
                 
Net income (loss) reconciliation:                
GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $(7,346) $(301) $(14,542) $ 
Change in fair value of redeemable convertible preferred stock warrant liability  3,251   (10)  3,610   41 
Stock-based compensation  1,986   1,526   5,667   4,817 
Amortization of intangible assets  667   667   2,001   2,060 
Non-GAAP net income (loss) attributable to common stockholders $(1,442) $1,882  $(3,264) $6,918 
  % of revenue, non-GAAP  -2%  4%  -2%  5%
                 
Net income (loss) per share reconciliation:                
Weighted-average shares outstanding  36,070   33,299   35,129   32,760 
GAAP net loss per share $(0.20) $(0.01) $(0.41) $ 
Non-GAAP net income (loss) per share $(0.04) $0.06  $(0.09) $0.21