AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Shares Up 6.7% on Analyst Upgrade

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price traded up 6.7% during trading on Friday after Scotiabank raised their price target on the stock from $750.00 to $775.00. Scotiabank currently has a sector outperform rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as high as $391.85 and last traded at $391.5510. 9,037,691 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 28% from the average session volume of 7,036,557 shares. The stock had previously closed at $366.91.

APP has been the subject of several other reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft set a $705.00 target price on shares of AppLovin and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 22nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Wedbush boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $465.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $720.00 target price on AppLovin in a research report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, AppLovin has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $651.77.

Insider Activity

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at $182,097,294.30. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total transaction of $14,803,249.34. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,323,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,812,669,143.78. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders sold 187,786 shares of company stock worth $100,914,925. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 beat-and-raise: AppLovin reported stronger-than-expected results (Q4 revenue +66% to $1.66B; EPS $3.24 vs. $2.89 est.) and raised near-term guidance — a primary reason value buyers stepped back in. Business Wire: Q4 results
• Positive Sentiment: Exceptional profitability: Management delivered and guided to extremely high adjusted EBITDA margins (~84%), and the business shows very strong net margins and FCF conversion — supporting the thesis that AppLovin is a high-margin adtech/software hybrid. Zacks: Margin analysis
• Positive Sentiment: Cash flow and buybacks: Analysts and commentators highlight massive free cash flow and recent large share repurchases, which provide balance-sheet optionality and support buy-the-dip interest. Seeking Alpha: FCF and buybacks
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst reaction is mixed but supportive: several firms raised targets or reaffirmed buy/outperform ratings (Wedbush, Scotiabank, Needham) while a few trimmed targets — the net effect keeps upside in many models but adds target dispersion. The Fly: analyst moves
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro / AI software sell-off weighs on sentiment: broader investor skepticism toward software/AI names and a weak macro datapoint (existing home sales) amplified downward pressure on the stock despite strong company-level results. Zacks: AI uncertainty
• Negative Sentiment: Competition concerns — CloudX and potential Meta pressure: investor fear that new entrants (CloudX) or large platforms could encroach on AppLovin’s mobile ad niche triggered the sharp selloff after earnings. That fear is the main headline driver behind the stock’s earlier steep decline. MarketBeat: competition concerns
• Negative Sentiment: Market punished the name despite fundamentals: several write-ups and commentators call the sell-off “panic” or “overdone,” but that volatility can persist while headline risk (competition, AI narrative) remains. Seeking Alpha: panic sell-off commentary

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in AppLovin by 39.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company’s stock worth $17,930,776,000 after acquiring an additional 7,051,663 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 111.1% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,852,466 shares of the company’s stock worth $8,516,471,000 after purchasing an additional 6,237,051 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,040,321,000. Rakuten Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,456,108,000. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in AppLovin by 55.2% during the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,886,150 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,792,355,000 after buying an additional 1,381,970 shares during the last quarter. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 3.25 and a quick ratio of 3.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $132.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.16, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $602.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.18.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. The business had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 57.42% and a return on equity of 306.49%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.73 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

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.