AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 1.5% – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP)’s stock price shot up 1.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $556.43 and last traded at $543.56. 4,579,048 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 5,297,122 shares. The stock had previously closed at $535.44.

More AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham upgraded APP from Hold to Buy and set a $700 price target, citing an ecommerce growth inflection and upside tied to ad/ecommerce monetization trends; that upgrade is the primary bullish catalyst behind recent buying. Needham Upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Street coverage and buy-side reaction pushed an earlier price pop after the Needham note, suggesting short‑term momentum as investors re-rate growth expectations. Price Reaction Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Broad coverage comparing AI/ad‑tech names (e.g., UiPath vs. AppLovin) highlights different risk/reward profiles — useful for positioning but not an immediate catalyst. Analyst Comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short‑interest figures in recent filings appear anomalous (showing zero shares), leaving days‑to‑cover at 0.0 — the data is confusing and not currently signaling acute short squeeze risk. (Internal trading/filing note)
• Negative Sentiment: AppLovin is fighting a 35‑page short‑seller report by CapitalWatch that alleged serious misconduct; the company has publicly demanded a retraction, but the allegations are keeping headline risk and volatility elevated. CapitalWatch Short Report
• Negative Sentiment: A law firm (Pomerantz) has announced an investor investigation into AppLovin, amplifying legal and reputational risk and increasing the potential for civil claims or class‑action activity. Pomerantz Investigation

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on APP. Weiss Ratings lowered AppLovin from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, January 15th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore ISI began coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $835.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, November 12th. Finally, Phillip Securities upgraded shares of AppLovin to a “moderate buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, three have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $706.45.

AppLovin Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $634.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $563.64. The firm has a market cap of $183.70 billion, a PE ratio of 65.97, a P/E/G ratio of 1.73 and a beta of 2.50.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total value of $14,803,249.34. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 3,323,681 shares in the company, valued at $1,812,669,143.78. This trade represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 150,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.91, for a total transaction of $97,636,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,133,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,643,131,095.72. This represents a 2.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 340,336 shares of company stock valued at $200,062,623. 13.66% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC grew its position in AppLovin by 58.6% during the 3rd quarter. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC now owns 46 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock valued at $431,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Versant Capital Management Inc grew its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 2.8% in the third quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 701 shares of the company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.2% in the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Optas LLC raised its holdings in AppLovin by 2.5% during the 3rd quarter. Optas LLC now owns 877 shares of the company’s stock valued at $630,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.