AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 13.5% After Better-Than-Expected Earnings

AppLovin Co. (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s share price traded up 13.5% during mid-day trading on Thursday following a stronger than expected earnings report. The company traded as high as $357.64 and last traded at $344.53. 7,005,836 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 17% from the average session volume of 5,996,866 shares. The stock had previously closed at $303.46.

The company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.45 by $0.22. AppLovin had a return on equity of 188.55% and a net margin of 33.54%. The company had revenue of $1.48 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $1.38 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 earnings per share. AppLovin's revenue for the quarter was up 40.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on APP shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on AppLovin from $500.00 to $335.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of AppLovin in a report on Monday, April 21st. Benchmark restated a "buy" rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Thursday. FBN Securities started coverage on shares of AppLovin in a research note on Friday, March 28th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $385.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Arete Research set a $200.00 target price on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $413.10.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $241.65, for a total value of $4,228,875.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 88,389 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,359,201.85. This trade represents a 16.53 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 45,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $422.21, for a total value of $18,999,450.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 2,914,492 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,230,527,667.32. The trade was a 1.52 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 306,900 shares of company stock valued at $106,401,841 in the last 90 days. 14.69% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of AppLovin

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. FMR LLC grew its stake in shares of AppLovin by 75.5% during the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 13,851,122 shares of the company's stock worth $4,485,409,000 after purchasing an additional 5,957,885 shares during the period. SVB Wealth LLC bought a new position in AppLovin during the fourth quarter worth about $1,781,922,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. grew its position in shares of AppLovin by 29.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 5,270,355 shares of the company's stock worth $1,396,486,000 after buying an additional 1,185,859 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of AppLovin by 14.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 4,519,445 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,462,144,000 after acquiring an additional 573,310 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its position in shares of AppLovin by 68.0% in the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 3,018,990 shares of the company's stock valued at $977,639,000 after acquiring an additional 1,222,074 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 41.85% of the company's stock.

AppLovin Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $117.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 75.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.02 and a beta of 2.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.70, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 2.41. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $275.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $308.12.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.

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