Upwork Inc. (NASDAQ:UPWK) shareholders have had their patience rewarded with a 29% share price jump in the last month. Looking back a bit further, it's encouraging to see the stock is up 30% in the last year.

Although its price has surged higher, given about half the companies in the United States have price-to-earnings ratios (or "P/E's") above 20x, you may still consider Upwork as an attractive investment with its 11.6x P/E ratio. However, the P/E might be low for a reason and it requires further investigation to determine if it's justified.

Upwork certainly has been doing a good job lately as it's been growing earnings more than most other companies. It might be that many expect the strong earnings performance to degrade substantially, which has repressed the P/E. If you like the company, you'd be hoping this isn't the case so that you could potentially pick up some stock while it's out of favour.

Keen to find out how analysts think Upwork's future stacks up against the industry? In that case, our free report is a great place to start.

Does Growth Match The Low P/E?

In order to justify its P/E ratio, Upwork would need to produce sluggish growth that's trailing the market.

Retrospectively, the last year delivered an exceptional 190% gain to the company's bottom line. Although, its longer-term performance hasn't been as strong with three-year EPS growth being relatively non-existent overall. Accordingly, shareholders probably wouldn't have been overly satisfied with the unstable medium-term growth rates.

Shifting to the future, estimates from the eleven analysts covering the company suggest earnings growth is heading into negative territory, declining 8.7% per year over the next three years. With the market predicted to deliver 11% growth each year, that's a disappointing outcome.

In light of this, it's understandable that Upwork's P/E would sit below the majority of other companies. Nonetheless, there's no guarantee the P/E has reached a floor yet with earnings going in reverse. There's potential for the P/E to fall to even lower levels if the company doesn't improve its profitability.

The Bottom Line On Upwork's P/E

The latest share price surge wasn't enough to lift Upwork's P/E close to the market median. Using the price-to-earnings ratio alone to determine if you should sell your stock isn't sensible, however it can be a practical guide to the company's future prospects.

As we suspected, our examination of Upwork's analyst forecasts revealed that its outlook for shrinking earnings is contributing to its low P/E. At this stage investors feel the potential for an improvement in earnings isn't great enough to justify a higher P/E ratio. It's hard to see the share price rising strongly in the near future under these circumstances.

If P/E ratios interest you, you may wish to see this free collection of other companies with strong earnings growth and low P/E ratios.

This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. We provide commentary based on historical data and analyst forecasts only using an unbiased methodology and our articles are not intended to be financial advice. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.