Thread by @RamBhupatiraju

Thank you $UPST for blowing our mind (again)!

Between over-excitement & despair after any particular quarterly results, the LT investor focus should remain the same.

-If/how their lending model is truly benefitting the borrowers & Financial institutions (compared to other/traditional lending options).

-How their models are evolving over time with more & more consumer data and past loan performance.

-How they are increasing their Bank partner numbers for personal & auto loans.

-Trending of operational metrics like # total loans, transacted volume, conversion rate, contribution margin, # fully automated loans & fraud rate, overall default/loss rate compared to other lending models.

-Traction/Performance in Auto

-Details on other products in pipeline

Few pts to keep in mind though

1) Even if they claim to be fee based rather than tied directly to credit risk, overall consumer lending activity (personal/auto/mortgage/credit card..) will be heavily dependent on the credit & economic cycle.

This could be partly combated for $UPST as they're constantly expanding the borrower funnel (due to increasing partnerships & products)

2) Also the investor perception for anything tied to non-recurring, and lending/credit based business model will be negative during Bear Markets and recessions. So stock could see some big downdrafts even with only reasonable business impact.

3) So it's easy to claim to be LT investor during the good times, but each investor has to decide whether they want to take some/all profits along the way or go thru an entire credit cycle being a shareholder (in businesses related to lending).

/END