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

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

Several other brokerages also recently weighed in on APP. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on shares of AppLovin from $740.00 to $660.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $650.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Wedbush lifted their target price on shares of AppLovin from $465.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price 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, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on AppLovin from $750.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Twenty research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have assigned a Hold 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 $654.50.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ:APP opened at $461.45 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $501.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $574.12. AppLovin has a 52-week low of $200.50 and a 52-week high of $745.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 3.32 and a current ratio of 3.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $155.64 billion, a PE ratio of 47.33, a P/E/G ratio of 0.84 and a beta of 2.51.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The company reported $3.24 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $1.66 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.73 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that AppLovin will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 7,609 shares of the company’s 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 sale, the insider owned 277,110 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $182,097,294.30. This represents a 2.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in AppLovin in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in AppLovin by 160.0% in the fourth quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Mcguire Capital Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in AppLovin during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Chilton Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the third quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 760.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

More AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Needham reaffirmed a “buy” on APP with a $700 price target, signaling sizable upside from current levels and giving institutional-supportive backing for the shares. Needham Reaffirms Buy
• Positive Sentiment: AppLovin announced a strategic partnership with Stagwell to integrate Axon across mobile and CTV, expanding distribution and AI-driven campaign tools — a clear commercial growth push for Axon and ad-revenue potential. Stagwell Partnership
• Positive Sentiment: AppLovin released an Axon/Kantar report highlighting mobile gaming as a mainstream ad channel, reinforcing longer-term TAM expansion for its ad platform. This supports revenue growth arguments if Axon continues monetizing at scale. Axon/Kantar Report
• Positive Sentiment: Industry data (Adjust) showing rising gaming app sessions and retention trends supports sustained ad demand in AppLovin’s core end-market. Adjust Gaming Data
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage notes that recent sharp price swings reflect market sentiment more than fundamentals — useful context for traders but less immediately actionable on fundamentals. Volatility Coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: Forbes and Zacks pieces compare AppLovin to peers and explain why the name is trending — informative for positioning but not new company-specific catalysts. Forbes Comparison
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest entries show zero shares (data anomaly), so current filings don’t indicate meaningful short pressure — treat these numbers cautiously.
• Negative Sentiment: Jim Cramer publicly warned that AppLovin carries “too much risk” and suggested Google could reclaim ad margins — comments from high-profile media figures can trigger short-term selling and amplify volatility. Jim Cramer Warning
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha published a downgrade-style piece predicting potential future turmoil, adding to the negative narrative and giving cautious investors reasons to trim positions. Seeking Alpha Downgrade

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.