AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) Trading Up 7.6% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Shares jumped 7.6% to about $421 on Monday despite trading volume well below average, and analysts maintain a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $669 amid mixed target revisions.
• AppLovin beat last quarter's estimates with EPS $3.24 vs. $2.89 and revenue $1.66B vs. $1.61B, with revenue up 66% year‑over‑year and very strong profitability metrics (net margin 57.4%, ROE 245.6%).
• Insiders have been net sellers recently — including the CEO's sale of 40,704 shares — with insiders selling 365,244 shares (~$169.6M) in the last 90 days, although insiders still own 13.66% of the company.

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 7.6% on Monday . The stock traded as high as $415.71 and last traded at $421.0550. Approximately 1,301,622 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 78% from the average daily volume of 5,917,061 shares. The stock had previously closed at $391.38.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on AppLovin from $543.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, April 6th. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $650.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Thursday, February 12th. Evercore restated a "buy" rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Oppenheimer lowered their price target on AppLovin from $740.00 to $660.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on AppLovin from $710.00 to $585.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Eighteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and five have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $669.05.

AppLovin Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $139.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.55, a P/E/G ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 2.50. The company has a quick ratio of 3.32, a current ratio of 3.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $426.55 and a 200 day moving average price of $553.83.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP - Get Free Report) last announced 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. The company had revenue of $1.66 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.61 billion. AppLovin had a return on equity of 245.64% and a net margin of 57.42%.AppLovin's revenue for the quarter was up 66.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.73 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that AppLovin Corporation will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other AppLovin news, CEO Arash Adam Foroughi sold 40,704 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $459.85, for a total transaction of $18,717,734.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 2,430,414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,117,625,877.90. The trade was a 1.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 5,231 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $477.47, for a total value of $2,497,645.57. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 30,658 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,638,275.26. This trade represents a 14.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 365,244 shares of company stock valued at $169,584,607 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.66% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AppLovin

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 25,120,575 shares of the company's stock worth $16,926,746,000 after acquiring an additional 166,117 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in AppLovin by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 11,904,843 shares of the company's stock valued at $8,021,721,000 after buying an additional 52,377 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in AppLovin by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 7,167,003 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,817,269,000 after buying an additional 448,005 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in AppLovin by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 6,089,735 shares of the company's stock valued at $4,103,386,000 after buying an additional 212,349 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in AppLovin by 10.7% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 5,561,646 shares of the company's stock valued at $3,747,551,000 after buying an additional 538,806 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company's stock.

About AppLovin

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.

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