Latest news with #Girouard
Boston Globe
6 days ago
- Business
- Boston Globe
Move over, Patriots: Gillette Stadium's groundskeepers are getting their own sponsorship
'They are our athletes,' said Eric Girouard, Brunt's CEO and founder, of the stadium's field crew. 'They're the people that we get excited about behind the scenes, that maybe don't get noticed, don't get recognized, but part of what we're excited about this year is we're going to start putting those guys on a pedestal and seeing where we can take it.' The Gillette field crew is responsible for maintenance and upkeep at the Foxborough stadium and other training facilities, Advertisement 'We want them to choose what they need to be safe and comfortable,' said Girouard. Girouard launched Brunt in 2020 with the aim of offering an alternative to legacy workwear brands — one eager to jump on new apparel tech and digital-savvy marketing. When Brunt began talks with the Kraft Group and the Patriots, Girouard said, he wanted to make sure that the company's buy-in meant more than just another name emblazoned below the jumbo-tron. Advertisement 'How do we be authentic? How do we tie it back to what we know and what we believe in?' said Girouard. 'Let's focus on the field crew, the people that actually get the field in condition and keep it in condition.' Girouard declined to share the financial terms of the sponsorship. Brunt, which has just under 100 employees, has raised more than $44 million, according to Besides giving the field crew a new wardrobe, the sponsorship will also include three tailgate events hosted by Brunt at home games through the end of the year. Girouard also said he plans to spotlight the groundskeepers on Brunt's social media platforms. 'We love that Brunt Workwear is a New England-based company, and from the first meeting with their team, felt that it would be a good fit,' said a Gillette Stadium spokesperson in a statement. 'The field crew had the opportunity to try out several products and was impressed with the quality and comfort of the whole line.' Though the deal covers only the upcoming season to see how it pans out, Girouard said, he hopes the partnership will continue. 'The goal is, we want to do this for multiple years, if not in perpetuity,' he said. Dana Gerber can be reached at
Yahoo
06-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Upstart returns to profitability in second quarter
Online lending platform Upstart Holdings became profitable again due to higher loan origination volumes. At the same time, the company has been investing in AI and expanding its consumer credit products. Upstart, an online lending platform that serves over 3 million borrowers, reached $5.6 million in net income this quarter, a 110% improvement from the $54.5 million loss reported this time last year. It's the first time the company has reported positive income since 2022. The lender also reported $257.3 million in revenue, a 101.6% increase from the prior year. "In addition to achieving triple-digit revenue growth, we reached GAAP profitability a quarter sooner than expected," Upstart CEO Dave Girouard said in the company earnings call. Similarly, diluted earnings per share hit $0.05, a 108% increase from the -$0.62 EPS reported in the second quarter of 2024. Driving the strong earnings report was the $2.8 billion of loan originations Upstart brought in, the lender's highest origination volume for a single quarter in three years. Paul Gu, Upstart co-founder and chief technology officer, emphasized the online lender's investment in AI this year and championed it as a factor in the company's growth. "We made strong progress in Q2 generalizing our AI technology across product verticals," Gu said in the earnings call. "Even with accelerating growth in new products, our share of fully automated loans actually kept up this quarter." About 92% of the company's loans are currently fully automated with no human intervention, according to a company earnings presentation. In Upstart's first investor day held in May 2025, which it called "AI Day," the company emphasized to its investors various plans to incorporate AI into employee workflow and consumer products. "One of our key priorities in 2025 is to 10x our leadership in AI," Gu said in the earnings call. "We continue to have a robust pipeline of modeling wins, and I'm incredibly proud of the team and what we've been able to accomplish so far with that." A Jeffries analyst report said that the quarter "showed good patterns on volumes with a rising conversion rate driving $2.8 billion of loan volume, ahead of consensus but modestly short of the 'whisper #' of $3.1 billion." A "whisper number" is an unofficial earnings prediction that can circulate among Wall Street brokers and investors separately from official consensus estimates for a publicly traded company. Upstart increased its revenue outlook for the full fiscal year from $1.01 billion to $1.055 billion, and its net income guidance from a general "positive" prediction to a specific number outlook of $35 million. The lender is also taking a conservative stance on the impacts of macroeconomic conditions on the latter half of the year and "roughly expects the status quo," according to chief financial officer Sanjay Datta. Analysts on the call pushed against this stance with several questions about the lower-than-expected jobs report released last week and the potential of future interest rate cuts, even as Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell is currently holding interest rates steady. "We plan for no real cuts in interest rates in the market," Datta said in response to an analyst question. "There's a lot of speculation around what that might look like for the rest of the year, but we certainly don't bank on anything in that regard." Upstart is also expecting a resilient labor market, according to Datta. "Notwithstanding the noise of the last week or so, we think the labor market continues to be in relatively good shape in terms of how many open jobs there are out there versus how many people are seeking jobs," he said. "That's the totality of the macro assumptions that go into our planning." Jeffries analysts noted that Upstart's third-quarter outlook changes were set above what they had expected. "FY25 guidance was [also] adjusted moderately up, which we believe may fall short of expectations considering momentum," the Jeffries report said. Shares in Upstart fell by 19% in trading on Wednesday. A Citizens analyst report on Upstart's earnings said that the firm would "remain neutral on the stock, as we believe that the valuation already captures a significant degree of the expectations for recovering volumes and margins; the near-record-high conversion rate within a more competitive lending landscape raises the credit risk profile; and we would like greater visibility into stable and permanent funding sources for new products." Sign in to access your portfolio
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 Amazing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Down 88% You'll Wish You'd Bought on the Dip in 2025
Upstart developed a unique artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm that could make traditional loan assessment methods obsolete. Upstart CEO Dave Girouard thinks the world's $25 trillion in annual loan originations could be assessed entirely by AI within the next decade. Upstart is leading that revolution, and its stock looks very attractive at the current price. 10 stocks we like better than Upstart › Upstart Holdings (NASDAQ: UPST) developed an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm to originate loans on behalf of banks and financial institutions, and it appears to be far more effective at determining the creditworthiness of potential borrowers than traditional assessment methods. Upstart stock has nearly doubled over the past year, but it remains 88% below its all-time high, which was set during the tech frenzy in 2021. Demand for loans plummeted when interest rates soared in 2022 and 2023, which dealt a blow to the company's financial performance. But earlier this month, Upstart reported its financial results for the first quarter of 2025 (ended March 31), and they revealed extremely strong -- and accelerating -- revenue growth. Its stock is starting to look like a bargain, so here's why investors might wish they had bought the dip when they look back on this moment in the future. Fair Isaac's FICO credit scoring system has been central to the banking industry's assessment methods for over three decades. It uses five key metrics to determine a potential borrower's creditworthiness, including their existing debts and their repayment history, but Upstart thinks it's outdated. AI makes it possible to analyze high volumes of data in a matter of seconds, enabling Upstart's algorithm to consider over 2,500 metrics on every applicant. As a result, the company says it produces a more accurate overview of a borrower's ability to repay their loan. It approves double the number of applications than traditional assessment methods, and at a much lower average interest rate, while maintaining the same risk profile. Inside a traditional bank, it would take a human assessor days, if not weeks, to manually analyze as much data as Upstart's AI algorithm. The company is slowly phasing humans out of the process entirely -- during the first quarter of 2025, it originated 240,706 loans in total, and a staggering 92% of those approvals were fully automated thanks to AI. The bulk of Upstart's originations are unsecured personal loans, but it has a growing presence in automotive loans and also in the home equity line of credit (HELOC) segment. At the company's "AI Day 2025" earlier this month, CEO Dave Girouard hinted at a potential expansion into small business loans, industrial loans, and credit cards over the long term. Girouard said there are around $25 trillion worth of originations worldwide each year across all loan segments, which translates into a $1 trillion opportunity in terms of fee revenue. He believes all human assessment methods will be replaced by AI within the next decade, and since Upstart is leading the transformation, it could capture a sizable chunk of that value. Upstart generated $213 million in total revenue during the first quarter of 2025. It was a 67% increase from the same quarter in 2024, marking the fastest growth rate in around three years. It was also the third consecutive quarter in which that growth rate accelerated, highlighting the significant momentum in loan demand. As I mentioned earlier, Upstart originated 240,706 loans during the quarter. They had a face value of $2.1 billion, which was a whopping 89% jump compared to the value of the loans the company originated in the same quarter last year. That growth rate also accelerated for the third straight quarter. Upstart also made significant progress at the bottom line because its operating expenses only increased by 11.6%, which was a much slower pace than the increase in its revenue. The company still lost $2.4 million on a generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) basis, but that was a 96.2% reduction from the $64.6 million net loss it delivered in the year-ago quarter. Upstart's preferred measure of profitability is adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which is a non-GAAP metric. It excludes one-off and non-cash expenses like stock-based compensation, so it's a good indicator of the actual cash the business is generating. It was positive to the tune of $42.5 million during the quarter, which was a big swing from the loss of $20.3 million from the year-ago period. When Upstart stock peaked in 2021, its price-to-sales (P/S) ratio surged to around 50, which was a completely unsustainable valuation. But the 88% decline in the stock since then, combined with the company's rapid revenue growth, has pushed its P/S ratio down to 5.7. That's a 35% discount to its long-term average of 8.8 dating back to when Upstart went public in 2020. Plus, management's guidance suggests the company will deliver a record $1.01 billion in revenue during the 2025 full year, which places the stock at a forward P/S ratio of 4.2: In other words, Upstart stock would have to double by the end of this year just to trade in line with its long-term average P/S ratio of 8.8. Considering the company's accelerating revenue growth, I think that's a real possibility. The decline in interest rates at the end of 2024 was a big tailwind for Upstart's business in the first quarter of 2025. Wall Street is anticipating two more cuts from the Federal Reserve this year (according to the CME Group's FedWatch tool), which should drive even more demand for loans. But the opposite is also true -- if the Fed cuts rates slower than expected, Upstart's recent momentum could temporarily hit a wall. But investors should stay focused on the long-term opportunity at hand, because if the number of loans assessed by AI continues to grow as CEO Dave Girouard expects, then Upstart stock could be poised for substantial upside over the next decade. Before you buy stock in Upstart, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Upstart wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $653,389!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $830,492!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 982% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 171% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 19, 2025 Anthony Di Pizio has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Upstart. The Motley Fool recommends CME Group and Fair Isaac. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 Amazing Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stock Down 88% You'll Wish You'd Bought on the Dip in 2025 was originally published by The Motley Fool Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Upstart Showcases AI Breakthroughs and Business Momentum at Inaugural 'AI Day'
NEW YORK, May 14, 2025--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, today hosted its first-ever AI Day investor event in New York City, where executives highlighted the company's proprietary AI, differentiated business model, and unique financial profile. "Upstart is building the foundation model for credit, and no one else is even trying," said Co-founder and CEO Dave Girouard. "From the scale of our AI infrastructure to our winning business model, we're on track to become the 'everything store for credit' in the 21st century." At the event, Girouard outlined the $1 trillion opportunity in credit and Upstart's leading role in delivering the AI that is changing how loans are underwritten, automated, and serviced. He also reiterated his four goals for 2025: 10X Upstart's advantage in AI; prepare Upstart's funding supply for rapid growth; return to GAAP profitability in the second half of the year; and giant leaps toward best rates and best process for all. Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Gu walked investors through the company's journey in developing a vertically integrated AI model trained on over 90 million datapoints. Gu emphasized how Upstart's use of advanced techniques—such as proprietary loss functions, embeddings, and dynamic macro modeling—delivers more accurate underwriting and faster approvals than traditional lenders. Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Growth Chantal Rapport detailed how Upstart's winning business model—driven by industry-leading AI, marketplace capital, and brand advantage—is driving growth across the full credit spectrum. She positioned Upstart as a "category of one" business that is reshaping borrower expectations with speed and ease. Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Datta showed how Upstart's growth trajectory, pricing power, margins, operating leverage, and profits have created a unique financial profile that results in business model resilience. He also pointed to potential future revenue streams for Upstart, including ratable fee revenue, subscriptions, revolving credit, and servicing for all. The presentations, as well as a video replay of the event, are available on Upstart's Investor Relations website. About Upstart Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) is the leading AI lending marketplace, connecting millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage Upstart's AI models and cloud applications to deliver superior credit products. With Upstart AI, lenders can approve more borrowers at lower rates while delivering the exceptional digital-first experience customers demand. More than 90% of loans are fully automated, with no human intervention by Upstart. Founded in 2012, Upstart's platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small-dollar "relief" loans. Upstart is based in San Mateo, California. This press release and the AI Day webcast contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our outlook for the second quarter of 2025 and the full-year of 2025. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition; macroeconomic factors; plans; objectives; product development; growth opportunities; assumptions; risks; future performance; business; investments; and results of operations, including revenue (including revenue from fees and net interest income (loss)), contribution margin, net income (loss), non-GAAP adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted EBITDA, basic weighted-average share count and diluted weighted-average share count. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made or management's good faith beliefs and assumptions as of that time with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results. Neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. More information about factors that could affect our results of operations and risks and uncertainties are provided in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including "Risk Factors" in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting our investor relations website at or the SEC's website at Moreover, we operate in very competitive and rapidly changing environments, and new risks may emerge from time to time. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Additional information will be available in other future reports that we file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations. View source version on Contacts Investors Sonya Banerjeeir@ Press Tom Brennanpress@ Sign in to access your portfolio
Business Wire
14-05-2025
- Business
- Business Wire
Upstart Showcases AI Breakthroughs and Business Momentum at Inaugural 'AI Day'
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Upstart Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPST), the leading artificial intelligence (AI) lending marketplace, today hosted its first-ever AI Day investor event in New York City, where executives highlighted the company's proprietary AI, differentiated business model, and unique financial profile. "Upstart is building the foundation model for credit, and no one else is even trying,' said Co-founder and CEO Dave Girouard. 'From the scale of our AI infrastructure to our winning business model, we're on track to become the 'everything store for credit' in the 21st century." At the event, Girouard outlined the $1 trillion opportunity in credit and Upstart's leading role in delivering the AI that is changing how loans are underwritten, automated, and serviced. He also reiterated his four goals for 2025: 10X Upstart's advantage in AI; prepare Upstart's funding supply for rapid growth; return to GAAP profitability in the second half of the year; and giant leaps toward best rates and best process for all. Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer Paul Gu walked investors through the company's journey in developing a vertically integrated AI model trained on over 90 million datapoints. Gu emphasized how Upstart's use of advanced techniques—such as proprietary loss functions, embeddings, and dynamic macro modeling—delivers more accurate underwriting and faster approvals than traditional lenders. Chief Marketing Officer and Senior Vice President of Growth Chantal Rapport detailed how Upstart's winning business model—driven by industry-leading AI, marketplace capital, and brand advantage—is driving growth across the full credit spectrum. She positioned Upstart as a "category of one" business that is reshaping borrower expectations with speed and ease. Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Datta showed how Upstart's growth trajectory, pricing power, margins, operating leverage, and profits have created a unique financial profile that results in business model resilience. He also pointed to potential future revenue streams for Upstart, including ratable fee revenue, subscriptions, revolving credit, and servicing for all. The presentations, as well as a video replay of the event, are available on Upstart's Investor Relations website. About Upstart Upstart (NASDAQ: UPST) is the leading AI lending marketplace, connecting millions of consumers to more than 100 banks and credit unions that leverage Upstart's AI models and cloud applications to deliver superior credit products. With Upstart AI, lenders can approve more borrowers at lower rates while delivering the exceptional digital-first experience customers demand. More than 90% of loans are fully automated, with no human intervention by Upstart. Founded in 2012, Upstart's platform includes personal loans, automotive retail and refinance loans, home equity lines of credit, and small-dollar 'relief' loans. Upstart is based in San Mateo, California. This press release and the AI Day webcast contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our outlook for the second quarter of 2025 and the full-year of 2025. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations and projections relating to our financial condition; macroeconomic factors; plans; objectives; product development; growth opportunities; assumptions; risks; future performance; business; investments; and results of operations, including revenue (including revenue from fees and net interest income (loss)), contribution margin, net income (loss), non-GAAP adjusted net income (loss), Adjusted EBITDA, basic weighted-average share count and diluted weighted-average share count. Forward-looking statements are based on information available at the time those statements are made or management's good faith beliefs and assumptions as of that time with respect to future events, and are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual performance or results to differ materially from those expressed in, or suggested by, the forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expected and should not be read as a guarantee of future performance or results. Neither we nor any other person assumes responsibility for the accuracy and completeness of any of these forward-looking statements. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law. More information about factors that could affect our results of operations and risks and uncertainties are provided in our public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"), including 'Risk Factors' in our most recent Annual Report on Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, copies of which may be obtained by visiting our investor relations website at or the SEC's website at Moreover, we operate in very competitive and rapidly changing environments, and new risks may emerge from time to time. It is not possible for us to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. Additional information will be available in other future reports that we file with the SEC from time to time, which could cause actual results to vary from expectations.
