Morgan Stanley Issues Pessimistic Forecast for AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Stock Price

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) had its price objective dropped by Morgan Stanley from $720.00 to $650.00 in a report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 88.43% from the stock’s current price.

APP has been the subject of several other reports. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $660.00 price target on shares of AppLovin in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Argus began coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. They set a “buy” rating and a $520.00 target price for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on AppLovin from $500.00 to $515.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada cut their price objective on AppLovin from $700.00 to $575.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, fifteen have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.55.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APP traded down $72.84 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $344.96. 10,295,679 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,684,417. The company has a quick ratio of 3.24, a current ratio of 3.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $115.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.53, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 2.54. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $332.19 and a 1-year high of $745.61. The company has a 50-day moving average of $484.79 and a 200 day moving average of $466.38.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 22,544 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $494.98, for a total transaction of $11,158,829.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,327,684 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,152,157,026.32. This trade represents a 0.96% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.89, for a total value of $11,317,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 243,961 shares in the company, valued at $138,055,090.29. This represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, 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.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

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

Key Headlines Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: AppLovin reported second-quarter revenue of approximately $1.924 billion, up 52.8% year over year, and earnings of $3.76 per share, in line with consensus and above the prior-year result. Adjusted EBITDA margin was reportedly 83.8%, highlighting continued operating leverage. AppLovin Announces Second Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management attributed the revenue shortfall partly to the timing of model improvements and said live gains, consumer scaling and continued advertising-platform expansion could support stronger growth in the third quarter. APP Q2 Earnings Call Highlights Model Timing, Q3 Reacceleration
• Positive Sentiment: The balance sheet remains supportive of investment, with roughly $3 billion in cash and $3.5 billion in debt. AppLovin is also expanding AXON Ads through a self-serve offering aimed at new verticals such as fintech and connected TV, potentially increasing its addressable market. AppLovin: A Dip We Were All Waiting For
• Neutral Sentiment: AppLovin’s CFO said an SEC probe involving the company has been closed, removing a reported regulatory overhang, although the earnings reaction remained focused on operating results. APP Stock Plunges After Revenue Miss and Soft Guidance
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue was below the approximately $1.94 billion analyst forecast. Because AppLovin’s valuation reflects very high growth expectations, the top-line miss overshadowed the strong profit performance. AppLovin Stock Falls on Q2 Revenue Miss
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of roughly $2.055 billion to $2.085 billion was viewed as below Wall Street expectations at the midpoint, raising concerns that monetization growth may be temporarily slowing. AppLovin Second-Quarter Sales Gain, Gives Soft Third-Quarter Outlook
• Negative Sentiment: Several analysts reduced their price targets following the report, including Needham, BTIG, Bank of America and Wells Fargo. Although most maintained positive or neutral ratings, the cuts signal lower near-term expectations and reinforce investor caution. AppLovin Analysts Cut Their Forecasts Following Q2 Earnings

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.