What happened
The stock market was having a very strong day on Wednesday following a multiday slump. The Dow Jones Industrial Average and S&P 500 were both higher by about 2%, and the tech-heavy Nasdaq was higher by about 3% as of 10:40 a.m. ET.
However, lending-technology company Upstart (UPST 2.80%) was a major outperformer. Shares were trading higher by nearly 8% after rising by as much as 10% earlier in the day.
So what
Clearly, much of today's move can be attributed to market momentum. Other major fintech companies such as PayPal and Block were significantly higher, as well.
In more company-specific news, Upstart announced the launch of its mobile-first Upstart Auto Retail platform. This is the latest evolution of Upstart's expansion into auto lending, and early results have been impressive. Upstart's Auto Retail platform quadrupled its adoption by car dealerships in 2021, and with about two-thirds of traffic coming from mobile devices, it makes sense to optimize the platform for mobile users.
Image source: Getty Images.
Now what
Upstart's recent earnings report was an absolute home run, and the company broke out guidance for its still-young auto lending business for the first time. It expects about $1.5 billion in auto transaction volume through its platform for the full year.
If it can achieve this after essentially starting from scratch a year ago, it would be an impressive achievement. It would also go a long way toward proving to investors that Upstart could ultimately capture a significant share of the $600+ billion auto lending industry.
