AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) Receives Consensus Rating of "Moderate Buy" from Analysts

Key Points

• Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus: Of 24 analysts, 13 recommend buying, three strongly recommend buying, and eight rate the stock a hold. The average 12-month price target is $565.91, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• AppLovin’s shares have fallen sharply: The stock opened at $315.44, near its 52-week low of $303.17 and well below its 50- and 200-day moving averages. Competitive pressures and concerns about the durability of mobile-gaming advertising growth are weighing on sentiment.
• Quarterly results showed strong growth but a slight revenue miss: AppLovin reported $3.76 in EPS and $1.92 billion in revenue, with revenue up 52.8% year over year but below the $1.94 billion analyst estimate. Insiders have sold 393,000 shares worth approximately $197.3 million over the past 90 days.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) has received a consensus recommendation of "Moderate Buy" from the twenty-four analysts that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, thirteen have issued a buy recommendation and three have issued a strong buy recommendation on the company. The average 1 year price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $565.9091.

Several brokerages have issued reports on APP. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of AppLovin from $798.00 to $790.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. BTIG Research decreased their price target on shares of AppLovin from $574.00 to $408.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, August 12th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of AppLovin from $720.00 to $650.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of AppLovin from a "hold (c)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised shares of AppLovin from a "moderate buy" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th.

Insider Transactions at AppLovin

In related news, Director Maynard G. Webb, Jr. sold 3,076 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.29, for a total transaction of $1,603,488.04. Following the transaction, the director owned 120,444 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,786,252.76. This trade represents a 2.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Victoria Valenzuela sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $565.89, for a total value of $11,317,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 243,961 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $138,055,090.29. The trade was a 7.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 393,000 shares of company stock valued at $197,297,363. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in APP. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $169,000. Kelly Lawrence W & Associates Inc. CA purchased a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth approximately $11,669,000. C M Bidwell & Associates Ltd. purchased a new position in AppLovin in the second quarter worth approximately $483,000. Abacus FCF Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth $9,706,000. Finally, Great Lakes Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in AppLovin during the second quarter worth $2,091,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Stock Performance

NASDAQ APP opened at $315.44 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.11, a current ratio of 4.30 and a quick ratio of 4.30. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $447.84 and its 200-day simple moving average is $455.50. The company has a market cap of $105.56 billion, a PE ratio of 24.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.63 and a beta of 2.54. AppLovin has a 1-year low of $303.17 and a 1-year high of $745.61.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The company reported $3.76 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $3.76. AppLovin had a return on equity of 193.10% and a net margin of 64.58%.The firm had revenue of $1.92 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.94 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.39 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 52.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AppLovin will post 15.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key AppLovin News

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain constructive on AppLovin’s valuation and financial profile. Phillip Securities upgraded the stock, while a recent analysis argued that the shares may be mispriced relative to the company’s fundamentals after reaching a 52-week low. AppLovin Upgraded at Phillip Securities AppLovin at 52-Week Low
• Neutral Sentiment: JPMorgan initiated coverage with a Neutral rating, recognizing AppLovin’s strong profitability and balance-sheet profile while questioning whether its rapid mobile-gaming advertising growth can continue. Bank of America also rates the shares Neutral. JPMorgan Initiates AppLovin Coverage Bank of America Neutral Rating
• Negative Sentiment: AppLovin’s latest quarterly results fell slightly short of revenue expectations, and adjusted EBITDA also missed estimates. Management attributed the weakness to slower-than-usual improvements in its core gaming advertising models, intensifying concerns about earnings-growth durability. AppLovin Q2 Earnings Call
• Negative Sentiment: Competitive risks from Unity and Meta, as well as questions about whether Google could challenge AppLovin’s advertising position, are weighing on the investment narrative. BTIG issued a pessimistic forecast, and another analyst downgrade previously contributed to selling pressure. BTIG Forecast for AppLovin AppLovin and Google Competition
• Negative Sentiment: Quant fund Renaissance Technologies exited its AppLovin position, a potential additional overhang for sentiment even though the move reflects portfolio management rather than a fundamental company announcement. Renaissance Changes Holdings

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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