AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Upgraded at Wedbush

Wedbush upgraded shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) to a strong-buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, Zacks.com reports. Wedbush also issued estimates for AppLovin’s Q3 2024 earnings at $0.92 EPS, Q4 2024 earnings at $0.95 EPS, FY2024 earnings at $3.44 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $0.98 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $0.98 EPS, Q3 2025 earnings at $1.00 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $1.03 EPS, FY2025 earnings at $3.98 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $1.05 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $1.06 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $1.08 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $4.31 EPS.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on APP. UBS Group raised shares of AppLovin from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $100.00 to $145.00 in a report on Tuesday, September 17th. Oppenheimer increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $48.00 to $66.00 and gave the stock a “sell” rating in a report on Friday, August 23rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $105.00 to $108.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on shares of AppLovin in a report on Monday, October 28th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $200.00 price target for the company. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $136.78.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of APP opened at $168.55 on Monday. AppLovin has a fifty-two week low of $35.79 and a fifty-two week high of $176.99. The company has a market capitalization of $56.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 71.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 1.86. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $130.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $98.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.27, a quick ratio of 2.28 and a current ratio of 2.28.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The company reported $0.89 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.77 by $0.12. The firm had revenue of $1.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.08 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 20.89% and a return on equity of 84.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 44.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.22 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 3.47 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In other news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $4,826,772.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 254,458 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,262,490.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CFO Matthew Stumpf sold 60,615 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.63, for a total transaction of $4,826,772.45. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 254,458 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,262,490.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 229,200 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.35, for a total transaction of $19,791,420.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 7,412,475 shares in the company, valued at approximately $640,067,216.25. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 610,094 shares of company stock valued at $51,022,478 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 14.69% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. WCM Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 10.5% in the 3rd quarter. WCM Investment Management LLC now owns 10,820,409 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,382,307,000 after purchasing an additional 1,029,009 shares during the last quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 7.2% in the 2nd quarter. Lone Pine Capital LLC now owns 5,702,438 shares of the company’s stock valued at $474,557,000 after purchasing an additional 382,767 shares during the last quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 185.0% in the 1st quarter. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. now owns 3,890,567 shares of the company’s stock valued at $269,305,000 after purchasing an additional 2,525,240 shares during the last quarter. Fred Alger Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 2nd quarter valued at $290,655,000. Finally, Whale Rock Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of AppLovin in the 1st quarter valued at $195,129,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

About AppLovin

AppLovin Corporation engages in building a software-based platform for advertisers to enhance the marketing and monetization of their content in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Software Platform and Apps. The company's software solutions include AppDiscovery, a marketing software solution, which matches advertiser demand with publisher supply through auctions; MAX, an in-app bidding software that optimizes the value of a publisher's advertising inventory by running a real-time competitive auction; Adjust, a measurement and analytics marketing platform that provides marketers with the visibility, insights, and tools needed to grow their apps from early stage to maturity; and Wurl, a connected TV platform, which distributes streaming video for content companies and provides advertising and publishing solutions through its AdPool, ContentDiscovery, and Global FAST Pass products.