Traders Purchase Large Volume of AppLovin Put Options (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) saw unusually large options trading on Thursday. Stock investors bought 121,413 put options on the company. This represents an increase of 80% compared to the typical volume of 67,480 put options.

AppLovin Price Performance

Shares of AppLovin stock opened at $375.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.54, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 2.49. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $623.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $567.67. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $200.50 and a 1-year high of $745.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 258.49% and a net margin of 51.27%.AppLovin’s revenue was up 68.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.29 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, December 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $657.13, for a total value of $5,000,102.17. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 277,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,097,294.30. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 4,069 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $497.50, for a total transaction of $2,024,327.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 2,998,948 shares in the company, valued at $1,491,976,630. This represents a 0.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 337,986 shares of company stock valued at $198,669,261 over the last ninety days. 13.66% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APP. CBIZ Investment Advisory Services LLC lifted 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 buying an additional 17 shares in the last quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Redhawk Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 640 shares of the company’s stock worth $431,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of AppLovin by 5.7% in the fourth quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC now owns 333 shares of the company’s stock worth $224,000 after acquiring an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 2.8% during 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Claro Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 3.2% during the third quarter. Claro Advisors LLC now owns 647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Multiple sell-side firms defended AppLovin’s competitive position and reiterated bullish ratings and high price targets, arguing AI threats are overstated and valuation remains compelling. Why Piper Sandler Says Google’s Project Genie Isn’t a Threat to AppLovin (APP)
• Positive Sentiment: Benchmark and Wedbush commentary also argued AppLovin’s data scale and ad stack sustain its moat despite AI-native initiatives from competitors. AppLovin, Unity’s structural moats are ‘intact,’ despite CloudX launch: Wedbush
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts/commentators view the selloff as overdone given AppLovin’s recent strong revenue and margin trends and continued operating leverage. AppLovin: Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful
• Neutral Sentiment: Q4 earnings and forward guidance are imminent and remain the primary near-term catalyst—estimates show robust EPS and revenue growth, so results/guidance could swing sentiment either way. Should You Buy, Sell, or Hold AppLovin Stock Before Q4 Earnings?
• Neutral Sentiment: Media coverage is heavy—expect headline-driven volatility; an earnings calendar item notes AppLovin is expected to report soon. AppLovin (APP) Expected to Announce Earnings on Wednesday
• Negative Sentiment: A short-seller narrative and critical coverage amplified concerns about competitive and execution risks, fueling selling pressure. AppLovin has far more worries than a short seller’s report
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option volume (about 121,413 puts, ~80% above average) signals elevated hedging or speculative bearish bets that can accelerate declines if momentum continues.
• Negative Sentiment: Several bearish takes argue the stock was “priced to perfection,” and new AI initiatives from rivals (CloudX/Project Genie) are being cited as potential threats—this has driven a broader software/AI selloff pressure. Why I’m Moving To A Sell On AppLovin Following The CloudX Launch (Rating Downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Market commentators and coverage (including Jim Cramer) highlighted investor fear that AI competition could materially erode AppLovin’s ad tech franchise, adding to the technical selloff. Jim Cramer says “Wall Street’s terrified that AI will eat AppLovin alive”

Analysts Set New Price Targets

APP has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of AppLovin from $800.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 11th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $771.00 price objective on shares of AppLovin in a report on Wednesday, December 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on shares of AppLovin from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of AppLovin from $425.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have given a Buy rating, three have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, AppLovin currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $691.23.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.