AppLovin’s (APP) “Buy” Rating Reaffirmed at Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reissued their buy rating on shares of AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) in a research report released on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $700.00 price target on the stock.

APP has been the topic of several other reports. Weiss Ratings cut AppLovin from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $800.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 11th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $465.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of AppLovin from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 1st. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of AppLovin from $850.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. One 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 given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.77.

AppLovin Trading Down 19.7%

NASDAQ:APP opened at $366.91 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $124.00 billion, a PE ratio of 37.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 2.49. The company has a current ratio of 3.25, a quick ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $602.52 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $570.18. AppLovin has a 12 month low of $200.50 and a 12 month high of $745.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.89 by $0.35. AppLovin had a return on equity of 306.49% and a net margin of 57.42%.The firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.73 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 6.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the insider owned 277,110 shares in the company, valued at approximately $182,097,294.30. The trade was a 2.67% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 14,708 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $548.45, for a total value of $8,066,602.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 35,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,683,322.05. The trade was a 29.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 187,786 shares of company stock valued at $100,914,925 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Advisors Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of AppLovin by 61.9% in the fourth quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 2,829 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,906,000 after purchasing an additional 1,082 shares during the last quarter. Laurel Oak Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $352,000. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. grew its holdings in AppLovin by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Northwest & Ethical Investments L.P. now owns 2,035 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 116 shares in the last quarter. Rossby Financial LCC increased its stake in AppLovin by 6,900.0% in the 4th quarter. Rossby Financial LCC now owns 70 shares of the company’s stock worth $47,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hollencrest Capital Management increased its stake in AppLovin by 1,604.0% in the 4th quarter. Hollencrest Capital Management now owns 1,704 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 1,604 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

Key AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat on EPS and revenue, with strong margins and raised 2026 revenue guidance — underlying operating metrics were robust. AppLovin press release
• Positive Sentiment: Several sell-side firms reaffirmed or raised targets (Scotiabank raised to $775; Wedbush boosted to $640; Needham and RBC reaffirmed buy/outperform), signaling continued analyst confidence in medium/long-term growth. Scotiabank raise (The Fly)
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish commentary argues the sell-off is an overreaction — analysts and commentators point to high margins, strong free cash flow and buybacks as reasons long-term holders should be constructive. Seeking Alpha bullish take
• Neutral Sentiment: Some firms trimmed price targets (BTIG, Wells Fargo, Piper Sandler, Citi lowered/tweaked targets) but largely kept buy/overweight ratings — mixed signals on near-term upside while conviction remains among many analysts. Analyst moves roundup
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data published in the period appears erroneous (0 shares / NaN changes) — no reliable signal of a short squeeze or coordinated short activity from the reported figures.
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the beat, shares plunged as investors flagged AI-related risk, competitive pressure in ad markets and perceived lack of clarity in management’s commentary/guidance — headlines emphasize “AI fears” and “guidance clarity” as the proximate causes of the sell-off. 247WallStreet coverage
• Negative Sentiment: Reports flagged softer-than-expected ad demand and competitive headwinds in ad tech, which weighed on investor confidence despite strong headline numbers. Reuters report

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.