AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) shares reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after BTIG Research lowered their price target on the stock from $640.00 to $574.00. BTIG Research currently has a buy rating on the stock. AppLovin traded as low as $339.60 and last traded at $348.9120, with a volume of 656486 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $417.80.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on APP. Argus began coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $520.00 price objective for the company. Benchmark reissued a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Morgan Stanley restated an “overweight” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “equal weight” rating and issued a $357.00 target price (down from $575.00) on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on AppLovin from $750.00 to $798.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, AppLovin currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $612.09.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.89, for a total value of $11,317,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 243,961 shares in the company, valued at approximately $138,055,090.29. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 9,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $5,431,200.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 177,450 shares in the company, valued at approximately $106,470,000. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 393,000 shares of company stock valued at $197,297,363. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

AppLovin News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AppLovin reported revenue of approximately $1.924 billion, up 52.8% year over year, and earnings of $3.76 per share, in line with consensus estimates. The company also delivered an 83.8% adjusted EBITDA margin, highlighting continued operating leverage. AppLovin Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s financial position remains supportive of expansion, with roughly $3 billion in cash, $3.5 billion in debt and strong interest coverage. AppLovin is also opening its AXON Ads platform to self-service customers, potentially expanding beyond gaming into areas such as fintech and connected TV. AppLovin: A Dip We Were All Waiting For
• Positive Sentiment: Needham, BTIG and Bank of America retained buy ratings, although each reduced its price target. The lower targets still imply upside from the referenced $417.80 share price.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst sentiment became more divided. Wells Fargo reaffirmed an Equal Weight rating and cut its target to $357, while other firms continued to recommend buying the stock with materially lower targets.
• Neutral Sentiment: AppLovin said an SEC investigation involving the company has been closed, removing one potential overhang, although the news received less attention than the earnings disappointment. APP Stock Plunges After Revenue Miss and Soft Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue fell short of Wall Street’s roughly $1.94 billion estimate, despite exceptional year-over-year growth. For the third quarter, management guided to $2.055 billion–$2.085 billion of revenue, with the midpoint slightly below the approximately $2.08 billion consensus. AppLovin Reports Second Quarter Revenue Below Wall Street Estimates
• Negative Sentiment: The revenue miss and cautious guidance overshadowed the earnings performance, triggering a large after-hours selloff and prompting concerns that AppLovin’s very high growth expectations had become difficult to exceed. AppLovin Second-Quarter Sales Gain and Soft Third-Quarter Outlook

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,120,575 shares of the company’s stock valued at $16,926,746,000 after buying an additional 166,117 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in AppLovin by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,904,843 shares of the company’s stock valued at $8,021,721,000 after acquiring an additional 52,377 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in AppLovin by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,167,003 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,817,269,000 after purchasing an additional 448,005 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in AppLovin by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,089,735 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,103,386,000 after purchasing an additional 212,349 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in AppLovin by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,561,646 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,747,551,000 after purchasing an additional 538,806 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Trading Down 17.7%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49, a quick ratio of 3.24 and a current ratio of 3.24. The company has a market capitalization of $115.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.54. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $484.79 and its 200-day simple moving average is $466.38.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.76. The company had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.94 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 64.29% and a return on equity of 219.37%. AppLovin’s revenue was up 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $2.39 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that AppLovin Corporation will post 15.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.