AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Down 1.7% – Time to Sell?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price fell 1.7% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $600.20 and last traded at $606.99. 4,129,690 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 7% from the average session volume of 4,427,608 shares. The stock had previously closed at $617.76.

AppLovin News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Power Inflow alert signaled heavy institutional/retail buying after a steep drop, producing a brief intraday bounce — a technical/order‑flow bullish signal that traders monitor for short-covering and momentum. Power Inflow Article
• Positive Sentiment: Reported insider buying: Rep. Gilbert Ray Cisneros, Jr. purchased shares, which can be read as a confidence signal by some investors. Insider Purchase Article
• Positive Sentiment: Evercore initiated coverage with an outperform / new “buy” rating, supporting the bullish analyst narrative on growth and monetization ahead. Evercore Rating Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Quarterly earnings preview highlights upcoming catalysts (revenue mix, margin cadence, guidance) that could swing the stock; investors are parsing results vs. lofty expectations after last quarter’s strong beat. Earnings Preview Article
• Negative Sentiment: Despite buy ratings, heavy selling and profit‑taking have driven sharp declines; commentators note the stock is “crashing” as sentiment flips quickly after intraday moves. Invezz Article
• Negative Sentiment: Market‑wide weakness (inflation data and risk‑off flows) and headlines about shares “tanking” despite a new buy rating have amplified volatility and selling pressure today. MSN Tanking Article MSN Market Coverage

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on APP. Phillip Securities raised AppLovin to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. Oppenheimer set a $740.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Tuesday, October 7th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $771.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Evercore ISI assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $835.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have issued a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $706.76.

AppLovin Stock Down 1.7%

The stock has a market capitalization of $205.13 billion, a PE ratio of 73.66, a PEG ratio of 2.21 and a beta of 2.50. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $640.74 and its 200-day moving average is $550.38. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 51.27% and a return on equity of 258.49%. The business’s revenue was up 68.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at AppLovin

In other news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total value of $14,803,249.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 3,323,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,812,669,143.78. The trade was a 0.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 340,336 shares of company stock valued at $200,062,623 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 39.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,954,458 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,930,776,000 after purchasing an additional 7,051,663 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings 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 buying an additional 6,237,051 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 4,292,752 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,084,514,000 after buying an additional 367,083 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 55.2% in the third quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 3,886,150 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,792,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,381,970 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kensico Capital Management Corp grew its position in AppLovin by 3.1% during the third quarter. Kensico Capital Management Corp now owns 3,118,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,240,767,000 after acquiring an additional 95,000 shares during the period. 41.85% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.