To The Moon

Upstart Holdings is a winner amid better funding and a strong balance sheet, Needham argued on Friday.Analysts led by Kyle Peterson upgraded shares to Buy from Hold and established a price target of $100. Upstart is a lending marketplace that uses artificial intelligence to assess borrowers' creditworthiness.Upstart stock gained 4.2% to $80.30 in premarket trading. Shares have soared 89% this year through Thursday's close.The analyst team recently hosted investor meetings with Upstart leaders and found reason for optimism."Coming off the meetings, we believe that UPST has achieved a proper balance in funding, largely due to the increased appetite and partnerships with committed capital buyers," analysts wrote. "We also expect the funding environment to steadily improve as the short-end of the yield curve continues to come down.". "We view UPST as a good fit for growth investors, and expect both growth and margins to significantly improve in the coming quarters," Needham added.