AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 1.6% – Here’s Why

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s share price was up 1.6% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $435.00 and last traded at $418.68. Approximately 8,630,363 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 24% from the average daily volume of 6,967,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.00.

AppLovin News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record results and margin strength are supporting sentiment — AppLovin reported a blowout quarter (record revenue, high margins, $3.24 EPS) that beats expectations and underpins bullish analyst commentary. AppLovin Stock Jumps. Why the Market’s Suddenly Excited About It.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that AppLovin is pursuing its own social media/network product (after a failed TikTok bid) are being viewed as a potential growth/monetization lever, helping drive buying interest. AppLovin Stock Rallies After Rough Start To Year. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces are turning bullish following the strong results, which supports a higher valuation narrative for a company that has evolved into a profitable ad platform. Analysts Bullish On AppLovin Corporation (APP) Outlook Following Impressive Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/newsflow context: broader market conditions and upcoming economic releases are influencing trading; some market summaries highlight AppLovin among movers but focus is also on GDP and inflation data. 5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest data reported in some feeds appears inconsistent/erroneous (zeros and NaN), so don’t treat those prints as a reliable signal for squeeze risk. (Data posted 2/18–2/19).
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Bloomberg reports the SEC’s investigation into AppLovin remains active — this ongoing probe raises uncertainty and could pressure sentiment until resolved. SEC probe involving AppLovin still active, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: Despite its best quarter, the stock endured a sharp pullback recently — analysts and pieces flag competition (Meta, others) and sector weakness as reasons the market punished shares, highlighting execution and competitive risk. How Low Can AppLovin Stock Go? APP Declines 29% in a Month

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $650.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of AppLovin from $860.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. UBS Group set a $740.00 price objective on AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Evercore reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Friday, January 30th. Twenty-one research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $651.77.

AppLovin Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $566.47 and a 200-day moving average of $572.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a current ratio of 3.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.94, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 2.49.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 7,385 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $538.10, for a total value of $3,973,868.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 46,004 shares in the company, valued at $24,754,752.40. The trade was a 13.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total transaction of $5,000,102.17. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,097,294.30. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 87,402 shares of company stock worth $48,611,888. 13.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AppLovin

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cambient Family Office LLC bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at $322,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Invesco Ltd. lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 12.3% in the fourth quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,821,046 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,248,517,000 after acquiring an additional 528,294 shares during the period. Michels Family Financial LLC lifted its holdings in AppLovin by 17.6% in the fourth quarter. Michels Family Financial LLC now owns 600 shares of the company’s stock valued at $404,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in AppLovin by 3,118.6% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 4,194,071 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,826,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,063,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation is a Palo Alto–based mobile technology company that provides software and services to help app developers grow and monetize their businesses. The company operates a data-driven advertising and marketing platform that connects app publishers and advertisers, delivering tools for user acquisition, monetization, analytics and creative optimization. AppLovin’s technology is integrated into a broad set of mobile applications through software development kits (SDKs) and ad products designed to maximize revenue and engagement for developers.

Key components of AppLovin’s offering include an ad mediation and exchange platform that enables publishers to manage and monetize inventory across multiple demand sources, and a user-acquisition platform that helps advertisers target and scale campaigns.