When Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK) released earnings in early August, the tech stock initially rallied but dropped in the days following as full-year guidance fell short of Wall Street's expectations. With the stock down more than 45% from its all-time high earlier this year, investors are wondering what could get the stock going in the right direction. Upwork's CEO Stephane Kasriel recently sat down with The Motley Fool to talk about its biggest growth opportunity: large companies.
But it's not an easy nut to crack. Convincing established enterprises to adopt new ways of getting work done is a huge challenge. Investors would do well to understand this new opportunity, what Upwork is doing to grow this segment, and the tailwinds that might accelerate this change.
To help investors understand the company's active client base, management regularly shares results for its core clients, "who have spent more than $5,000 [on the platform] in their lifetime and are still active." This $5,000 figure is a pretty low bar given that it's only about a month of work for the average U.S.-based freelancer. Until recently, this statistic was the only insight shareholders had into Upwork's customer set, but management's recent comments indicate the company understands it needs to think bigger.