What happened Shares of Upwork (NASDAQ: UPWK), the online freelancer marketplace, finished 2021 in slightly negative territory, finishing down 1% according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence. As you can see from the chart below, the market rotation out of growth stocks toward the end of the year dashed what had been a strong performance. UPWK data by YCharts So what Like a number of other growth stocks, Upwork came into 2021 on a hot streak. The stock surged in the latter months of 2020, benefiting from a strong earnings report and a boost in demand from the remote work trend and labor displacement from the pandemic. The stock jumped 20% in January on little news and surged through most of February in anticipation of its fourth-quarter earnings report. Revenue rose 32% in the quarter to $106.2 million, easily beating estimates of $97.2 million, and adjusted earnings per share doubled from $0.03 to $0.06, much better than the consensus of a loss of $0.05, as management touted the tailwinds from remote work. Image source: Getty Images. Guidance was also better than expected, and the stock briefly jumped 20% on the report before giving up much of those gains by the end of the session. Shifting market sentiment away from pandemic winners seemed to play a role in that, and the stock drifted downward following the report. It remained volatile for the next two months before falling lower on its first-quarter earnings report despite beating estimates once again. Revenue jumped 37% to $113.2 million, and the company posted earnings per share (EPS) of $0.03, which compared to analyst estimates of $108.7 million in revenue and a loss of $0.04 per share. The stock bounced higher in June before again diving on its second-quarter earnings report at the end of July as investors seemed to think the stock price growth was outrunning that of the business. Revenue growth accelerated to 42% and the company posted a surprise profit, but the stock still fell 10% on the news. Shares recovered from that sell-off and gained over the next couple of months with the help of some analyst upgrades. Finally, the stock fell again on its third-quarter earnings report as revenue growth slowed to 32% to $128 million, though that still beat analyst estimates. The stock then fell over the rest of the year in line with a sell-off in unprofitable tech stocks. Now what Upwork has continued to slump into the new year, with the stock down 15% through Jan. 10 as the market is rotating out of high-priced growth stocks. However, Upwork's valuation now seems a lot more reasonable at a price-to-sales ratio around 8 than it did at its peak last year when it was double what it is now. 2022 will present a different set of challenges; the company will have more difficult comparisons, but the remote work trend still favors it. 10 stocks we like better than UpworkWhen our award-winning analyst team has a stock tip, it can pay to listen. After all, the newsletter they have run for over a decade, Motley Fool Stock Advisor, has tripled the market.* They just revealed what they believe are the ten best stocks for investors to buy right now... and Upwork wasn't one of them! That's right -- they think these 10 stocks are even better buys. See the 10 stocks *Stock Advisor returns as of January 10, 2022 Jeremy Bowman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Upwork. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.Source