Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) Stock Price & How to Invest
Short answer
You can invest in Upstart Holdings (UPST) by buying shares or fractional shares at any major broker, through an ETF that holds it, or as one holding in a thematic basket. Upstart runs an AI lending marketplace that uses machine-learning underwriting to connect borrowers with banks, credit unions, and capital-markets investors, and its thesis rests on that model scaling across personal, auto, HELOC, and small-dollar loans, with leverage to falling interest rates and new products. The biggest risk is that originations, profitability, and funding availability are highly cyclical and sensitive to macro conditions, interest rates, and credit performance, which has historically made UPST an exceptionally volatile stock.
UPST stock price
As of 2026-06-26, Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) last closed at $33.66, down 46.9% over the past year. Over the past 52 weeks it has traded between $24.22 and $84.13.
Prices are daily closing prices from Yahoo Finance and may be delayed. For the live quote, check your broker or Upstart Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
What does Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) do?
Upstart Holdings operates an AI lending marketplace. Rather than holding most loans itself, it uses machine-learning models to assess borrower risk and then connects applicants with a network of bank and credit-union partners and capital-markets investors who fund the loans. The platform began in unsecured personal loans and has expanded into auto lending, home-equity lines of credit (HELOC), and small-dollar loans, positioning Upstart as a technology layer that aims to approve more borrowers at lower loss rates than traditional FICO-based underwriting. The company argues its model improves with more data, creating a feedback loop between volume and accuracy.
Upstart makes most of its money from fees rather than interest: referral and platform fees paid by lending partners when loans are originated through its marketplace, plus loan-servicing fees. A portion of revenue and risk also comes from loans Upstart holds on its own balance sheet, which it has worked to reduce in favor of committed funding from banks, credit unions, and securitization. Founded in 2012 and public since 2020, Upstart saw originations surge in the low-rate era, then contract sharply when rates rose and funding dried up, and has more recently returned to rapid year-over-year growth as it diversified funding partners and broadened its product set.
What's driving Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)?
1. AI underwriting accuracy and scale.
Upstart's core asset is a machine-learning model that aims to price credit risk more accurately than traditional FICO-based methods, approving more borrowers at similar or lower loss rates. Management argues the model improves as it ingests more loan-performance data, which can widen approval rates and strengthen partner economics. The degree to which this edge holds through a full credit cycle is central to the long-term thesis.
2. Funding diversification.
Originations depend on having committed capital to fund loans. Upstart has worked to reduce reliance on any single source by signing more bank and credit-union partners and expanding securitization and warehouse funding. In Q1 2026 it reported a large and growing set of funding partners for auto and home loans. More stable, diversified funding makes origination volume less hostage to swings in investor appetite.
3. New verticals beyond personal loans.
Upstart is extending its model from unsecured personal loans into auto lending, HELOC, and small-dollar loans. These adjacent markets are large and give the company more ways to grow without depending on a single product. Early traction in auto and HELOC has been cited as a key catalyst, though each new vertical must prove out its own underwriting and funding economics.
4. Rate-cycle leverage.
Because borrower demand and investor funding both respond to interest rates, Upstart has meaningful leverage to a falling-rate environment: lower rates can lift loan demand and improve the economics for partners who fund loans. That leverage is symmetric, so the same sensitivity that helps in an easing cycle works against the business when rates rise or credit conditions tighten.
What are the risks to Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)?
Upstart is highly sensitive to macro and interest-rate conditions: originations, fee revenue, and profitability can contract sharply when rates rise or credit tightens, as they did in 2022 and 2023. Funding availability is a structural risk, since the marketplace only works if banks, credit unions, and capital-markets investors keep buying the loans it originates. Loans held on Upstart's own balance sheet expose it to credit losses and fair-value swings. The model's underwriting edge is unproven across a severe downturn, and a spike in unemployment or defaults could exceed its projections. Competition from other fintech lenders, banks, and incumbents is intense, and the stock has historically been extremely volatile, with large multi-month drawdowns and rallies.
How is Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST) valued? (approximate, June 2026)
A simple financial snapshot. These are approximations and refresh quarterly; for current figures see Upstart Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker.
- Revenue (Q1 2026): ~$308 million, up ~44% year over year; FY2026 guidance ~$1.4 billion
- Origination volume (Q1 2026): ~$3.4 billion, up ~61% year over year; ~425,000 loans
- Adjusted EBITDA (Q1 2026): ~$40.5 million (~13% margin); FY2026 guidance ~$294 million
- Net income (FY2025): ~$54 million, swinging back to profit from a loss in 2024
- Market cap: ~$2.9 billion (June 2026)
- Valuation: ~50x trailing earnings and roughly 2x to 3x sales; growth-priced and rate-sensitive
Upstart's results are cyclical and volatile. Origination volume, fee revenue, and adjusted EBITDA can move dramatically year over year with interest rates, credit conditions, and funding availability, and the company swung from a 2024 loss back to profitability in 2025 before guiding to renewed growth in 2026. Its valuation reflects high expected growth, which makes the multiple sensitive to any slowdown. The stock has seen large drawdowns and rallies within a single year. All figures are approximate, tied to the asOf date, and move with results and the share price; verify current numbers before relying on them.
Who competes with Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)?
Fintech consumer lenders
SoFi (SOFI) and LendingClub (LC) compete for similar borrowers in personal loans and broader consumer credit. SoFi operates as a chartered bank with a wider product suite, while LendingClub also originates and holds loans. They compete with Upstart on underwriting, borrower acquisition, and access to funding.
AI and marketplace lenders
Other technology-driven lenders and marketplaces, including platforms focused on point-of-sale or specialty credit, compete on data-driven underwriting and partner funding. Upstart's differentiation rests on its claim that its machine-learning model approves more borrowers at comparable loss rates, an edge that rivals are working to close.
Banks and credit unions
Traditional banks and credit unions both partner with Upstart and compete with it, since they can underwrite consumer loans in-house using established FICO-based methods. Many of the same institutions that fund Upstart loans also offer their own personal, auto, and home-equity products directly to customers.
Auto and HELOC lenders
As Upstart expands into auto refinancing, HELOC, and small-dollar loans, it faces established lenders and fintechs in each vertical. These markets have entrenched incumbents and their own funding and underwriting dynamics, so success in adjacent products is not guaranteed by Upstart's personal-loan position.
How to invest in Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)
There are three common ways to get UPST exposure. Buy shares (or fractional shares) directly at any major broker. Hold an ETF that includes it, which spreads the position across many companies. Or build it into a focused thematic basket, so UPST sits alongside other stocks that express the same thesis.
Walnut takes the basket route. Describe a thesis where UPST fits (for example “AI infrastructure” or “dividend-growth large-caps”) and the AI proposes 5 to 6 constituents with target weights. You review the plan and fund it through your own broker when you're ready.
The bottom line on Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)
If you believe an AI underwriting model can price credit better than traditional FICO-based methods at scale, that Upstart can diversify its funding so origination volume is less reliant on a few partners, and that lower rates plus new products like auto and HELOC widen its market, then UPST offers concentrated exposure to AI-driven lending. That same exposure cuts both ways: results swing hard with interest rates, credit losses, and investor appetite for the loans Upstart originates, so it behaves as a high-beta, cyclical fintech rather than a steady compounder.
More on Upstart Holdings, Inc. (UPST)
Whether UPST is worth buying today depends more on your time horizon and what you already hold than on any single call. We walk through valuation, what would have to go right, and the risks in is UPST a buy?, and where the stock could go from here in the UPST stock forecast.
For income investors, whether UPST pays a dividend and how the payout looks is covered in does UPST pay a dividend?
Build a basket around UPST with Walnut
Use Upstart Holdings, Inc. as one constituent in a thematic basket Walnut's AI helps you assemble. Describe a thesis you believe in, the AI proposes the holdings and weights, and you approve before any broker order.
FAQ
What does Upstart do?
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Upstart runs an AI lending marketplace. It uses machine-learning models to assess borrower risk, then connects applicants with bank and credit-union partners and capital-markets investors who fund the loans. It started in personal loans and has expanded into auto lending, HELOC, and small-dollar loans, earning mostly fees rather than holding most loans itself.
What is UPST's ticker symbol?
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UPST, listed on the Nasdaq. The company is Upstart Holdings, Inc., founded in 2012 and public since December 2020. It trades during US market hours and is available at every major US brokerage, where you can buy whole or fractional shares.
Is UPST profitable?
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Upstart's profitability is cyclical. It earned roughly $54 million of net income in fiscal 2025 after a loss in 2024, and reported positive adjusted EBITDA of about $40 million in Q1 2026. Because results swing with interest rates, originations, and credit conditions, profitability can change quickly. Verify the latest figures before relying on them.
Does Upstart pay a dividend?
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Upstart does not pay a dividend. As a growth-stage fintech it reinvests in its lending platform, technology, and product expansion rather than returning cash to shareholders. Any return to investors has historically come from share-price movement rather than income. Capital policies can change, so verify the current situation before relying on it.
Why is UPST so volatile?
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Upstart's business is highly sensitive to interest rates, credit conditions, and funding availability, all of which can shift fast. When rates rise or investors pull back, originations and fee revenue can fall sharply; when conditions ease, they can rebound just as quickly. That cyclicality, plus a growth-priced valuation, has produced large multi-month drawdowns and rallies in the stock.
How does Upstart make money?
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Mostly from fees rather than interest. It collects referral and platform fees from lending partners when loans are originated through its marketplace, plus loan-servicing fees. A smaller, riskier portion of revenue comes from loans Upstart holds on its own balance sheet. The marketplace model depends on partners and investors continuing to fund the loans it originates.
Which ETFs hold Upstart?
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Broad small-cap, financials, and innovation or fintech-themed ETFs can hold UPST, and some next-generation finance thematic funds include it. As a smaller, more volatile name its weights tend to be modest and change over time. Verify a fund's current holdings before relying on any specific exposure.
Is UPST a good stock to buy right now?
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This is descriptive, not a recommendation. The bull case is an AI underwriting model scaling across personal, auto, and HELOC lending with leverage to falling rates and diversified funding. The bear case is severe cyclicality: originations, profits, and funding can contract sharply in a downturn, and the stock is very volatile. Whether it fits depends on your goals, time horizon, and risk tolerance. Walnut is informational, not investment advice.
Walnut is informational, not investment advice. Financial figures on this page are approximations; always verify current numbers with Upstart Holdings, Inc.'s investor relations page or your broker before making investment decisions.