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Shares of
Upstart
were falling nearly 46% in premarket trading Tuesday after the artificial-intelligence lending company slashed its full-year revenue outlook, noting the possibilities of a recession.
Upstart (ticker: UPST) said it expects revenue in 2022 of about $1.25 billion, down from its previous forecast of $1.4 billion. The company said revenue in its second quarter will be about $295 million to $305 million, below Wall Street forecasts of $335 million.
“While this year is shaping up to be a challenging one for the economy, we know the drill and are confident that we can navigate whatever 2022 and beyond might hold,” said Chief Executive Dave Girouard in a press release.
The CEO noted on the company’s conference call the aggressive moves by the Federal Reserve to cool inflation by raising interest rates.
“Given the hawkish signals from the Fed, we anticipate prices will move even higher later this year, which will have the effect of reducing our transaction volume, all else being equal,” Girouard said.
Upstart Chief Financial Officer Sanjay Datta also highlighted rising interest rates and said higher inflation and monetary tightening from the Fed implied “the non-trivial risk of a recession potentially later this year.”
“Given the general macro uncertainties and the emerging prospect of a recession later this year, we have deemed it prudent to reflect a higher degree of conservatism in our forward expectations,” Datta added.
Upstart reported first-quarter adjusted earnings of 61 cents a share, beating forecasts of 53 cents, and revenue of $310.1 million, higher than estimates of $300 million.
Upstart shares fell 45.7% to $41.86 in premarket trading. Coming into Tuesday, the stock has declined 49% in 2022.
Write to Joe Woelfel at joseph.woelfel@barrons.com