Upwork's 2023 Q2 Financial Results

[wlyonsatl]

Upwork just dropped its 2nd quarter 2023 results. Management will have a conference call at 5:00 PM Eastern to discuss. 

After the call with analysts, etc. is over, a webcast archive will be available at investors.upwork.com.

[spectralua]

Thanks. Il'l keep eye on it. I hope Upwork loosed clients and pro freelancers but doubled incomes from newbies with lates crazy improvements, like boosting.

[wlyonsatl]

In its quarterly letter to shareholders Upwork management made a clear pivot to try to make Upwork a company investors can rely on as a play for investing in Artificial Intelligence ("AI").

As an ex-Wall Street analyst I've seen fads come and go in the public markets - riverboat casinos, Y2K, silly Internet "plays" (does anyone remember Pets.com?), etc., etc. Nimble investors make money in such stocks; others will be left holding the bag.

[celgins]

I briefly reviewed the quarterly report (10Q), but did not view the webcast. When they mentioned investing in AI, did they mention how or in what capacity?

My guess is, Upwork's pivot is partly driven by their eagerness to participate in the "next big thing." But I also think they are listening to their large enterprise clients who may be requesting more AI talent.

With regards to fads and bandwagons, I've seen a lot of small and medium-sized businesses attempting to explore AI, especially generative AI and how to take advantage of its capabilities. However, they are reluctant to dedicate a full salary to an AI Specialist or Machine Learning Engineer, and platforms like Upwork come in handy since it allows them to quickly bring AI talent without breaking the bank. That's a good thing--especially when they have no idea how long this "fad" might last.

For the record, I don't think generative AI is a fad. I think it will expand, but I'm not exactly sure how.

[wlyonsatl]

Clark S.,

Here's a link to the Shareholder Letter distributed yesterday:

https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1627475/000162747523000048/updated_finalxq223upwork.htm

You can see 157 references to "AI." Looks like somebody was trying to make that document very SEO-friendly for future Google searches on "AI".

[the-right-writer]

I know Upwork is all in on AI. Maybe we should just give the business to the ChatGPTbot and see what it does. The investors might like the idea.

Yes, I have seen the fads come and go, and the latest "magic bullet."  Remember Pets dot com, too.

I have wondered what this was like in the days we were hanging out in caves.

The Y2K period was extremely interesting. Combined with the relatively still new Internet, it made for a perfect setup. Now the ones confined by geography can reach anywhere in the world. The idea is, you can't live without it, or you will be left behind. In Y2K, they literally pushed, you can't live without it, it's 2000, and we're all going to die! Unless you invest, buy, donate, give name recognition... But even worse, you will not make lots of money.

I knew an investor who personally invested in start-ups and would watch and leave, usually just when things were really taking off. He said it was frustrating to see a business he was a part of go on to make money without him, but he always made money on almost every investment.

[spectralua]

Chatgpt can't do that much nonsense in such a short amount of time. It was made by alive man for sure. 🙂

[wlyonsatl]

Clark S.,

I don't think AI is a fad by any means.

I think Wall Street's blind pursuit of quick profits on early-stage technologies leads some companies' share price to rise far faster than the underlying economics of the company justify. This is clearest in hindsight - and it happens regularly.

For example, many, many people bought "Internet" stocks back during that fad and they lost much or all of their money betting on the wrong horses. The Internet has created a sustainable technological revolution, but buying shares in overblown companies like America Online, Pets.com and many, many other companies was a money-losing proposition.

[celgins]

Oh yes... I remember those days. VCs were pouring money into anything "tech-" or "internet-" related, not even understanding what those start-ups could or couldn't do. There were a lot of blind pursuits by entities with deep pockets in those days. I know it still happens, but from 1997 to approximately 2000, it was crazy.

[the-right-writer]

I won't forget that mad rush. You are right. People who didn't understand tech weren't asking a lot of questions; they didn't want to miss the next start-up. 

I'm sure every new tech causes money to be exchanged, but I have never seen so many throwing money, as you, say blindly. 

[7dfaa303]

what is going to happer next ! is upwork going to be increase connect requirements further more! upwork becoming weird lately