AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 1.6% – Still a Buy?

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) shares traded up 1.6% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $435.00 and last traded at $418.68. 8,630,363 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 24% from the average session volume of 6,967,955 shares. The stock had previously closed at $412.00.

AppLovin News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Record results and margin strength are supporting sentiment — AppLovin reported a blowout quarter (record revenue, high margins, $3.24 EPS) that beats expectations and underpins bullish analyst commentary. AppLovin Stock Jumps. Why the Market’s Suddenly Excited About It.
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that AppLovin is pursuing its own social media/network product (after a failed TikTok bid) are being viewed as a potential growth/monetization lever, helping drive buying interest. AppLovin Stock Rallies After Rough Start To Year. Here’s Why.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary pieces are turning bullish following the strong results, which supports a higher valuation narrative for a company that has evolved into a profitable ad platform. Analysts Bullish On AppLovin Corporation (APP) Outlook Following Impressive Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/newsflow context: broader market conditions and upcoming economic releases are influencing trading; some market summaries highlight AppLovin among movers but focus is also on GDP and inflation data. 5 Things to Know Before the Stock Market Opens
• Neutral Sentiment: Short interest data reported in some feeds appears inconsistent/erroneous (zeros and NaN), so don’t treat those prints as a reliable signal for squeeze risk. (Data posted 2/18–2/19).
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: Bloomberg reports the SEC’s investigation into AppLovin remains active — this ongoing probe raises uncertainty and could pressure sentiment until resolved. SEC probe involving AppLovin still active, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: Despite its best quarter, the stock endured a sharp pullback recently — analysts and pieces flag competition (Meta, others) and sector weakness as reasons the market punished shares, highlighting execution and competitive risk. How Low Can AppLovin Stock Go? APP Declines 29% in a Month

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on AppLovin from $425.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $720.00 target price on AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wedbush upped their target price on AppLovin from $465.00 to $640.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $860.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $771.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Twenty analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $651.77.

AppLovin Price Performance

The company’s 50 day moving average is $571.51 and its 200 day moving average is $570.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $141.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.94, a P/E/G ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.The business had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.73 earnings per share. AppLovin’s revenue was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 7,385 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $538.10, for a total value of $3,973,868.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 46,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,754,752.40. This represents a 13.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,097,294.30. This trade represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 87,402 shares of company stock worth $48,611,888. 13.66% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock valued at $27,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 760.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. 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.