NEW YORK, Feb 11, 2026, 05:41 (EST) — Premarket
- Upstart shares ticked up 11 cents in premarket trading after the company issued its 2026 revenue outlook. The lender also said it will discontinue quarterly guidance.
- Paul Gu, the co-founder, will step in as CEO, while Dave Girouard moves over to executive chairman.
- A new monthly origination page is rolling out, aiming to give investors a quicker take on loan demand.
Shares of Upstart Holdings inched up 11 cents to $38.96, a gain of 0.3%, early Wednesday after the AI-powered lending platform pegged 2026 revenue at roughly $1.4 billion and announced it will no longer provide quarterly outlooks. Alongside the forecast, Upstart appointed a new chief executive as part of a leadership shakeup.
Upstart’s shares often swing sharply at any signal about lenders’ or investors’ appetite for funding consumer loans. That appetite can vanish quickly if rates shift, losses rise, or the capital markets freeze up, even for just a week.
Upstart wants to close the gap between its own outlook and what investors actually see. By moving to annual targets and sharing operating data more often, the company is betting that investors will prefer the steadier stream of information—even if the monthly numbers get bumpy.
Upstart reported fourth-quarter revenue jumped 35% to $296 million, with net income landing at $18.6 million, or 17 cents per share. Transaction volume reached $3.2 billion—up 52%—spread across 455,788 loans. The company’s conversion rate, or the portion of borrower inquiries converted to loans, improved to 19.4%. Contribution margin slipped to 53%, down from 61% a year ago, reflecting higher acquisition and servicing costs.
Upstart is rolling out a public webpage, offering monthly origination data and pledging to update investors with the previous month’s transaction volume every third of the month. CEO Dave Girouard described the move as a way for investors to “monitor our near term dynamics” without losing sight of the bigger picture. Business Wire
Upstart is shaking up its executive ranks. Paul Gu, who co-founded the company and serves as chief technology officer, will take over the CEO role from Dave Girouard on May 1. Girouard is moving to executive chairman, and according to a recent filing, his base salary will fall to $15,000. In other moves, Sanjay Datta steps in right away as president and chief capital officer, with Andrea Blankmeyer set to assume the CFO post on March 16 as Datta exits that position. “Credit is one of the cornerstone industries of civilization,” Gu said in a statement. Kerry Cooper, lead independent director, called the shifts “careful succession planning.” SEC
The setup here is messy. Upstart flagged in its annual report that keeping loans on its own books means it’s exposed to shifts in market rates—fair value moves around—and vulnerable if borrowers start missing payments. At the end of the year, the company was holding roughly $985 million in loans on its balance sheet. If its partners pull back on funding, Upstart might have to warehouse even more, which would soak up capital and pile on more risk.
Eyes will turn to the next batch of monthly volume figures for clues about whether the 2026 revenue outlook holds up—and if margins can steady as volumes tick higher. Two dates jump out on the calendar: March 16, when Blankmeyer is set to step in as CFO, and May 1, marking Gu’s handoff as CEO.
