AppLovin (APP)

Information Technology · $131B market cap · SEC CIK 0001751008

Next reports on Feb 9, 2027, after the close, with analysts expecting $4.67 in earnings per share.

52-week range $225.19 to $738.01. 46% below its 52-week high and 76% above its low.

The case for APP

• Revenue up 57.8% on the year.
• Cheap for its growth: 26.1× earnings, where 25%+ a year of growth would justify about 46×.
• Earns 183% on shareholder equity.
• 66% of revenue drops through to net profit.
• Earnings per share up 80.2%.
• Has compounded revenue at 30.4% a year over five years.

The case against

• Down 33.9% over the past year.
• Swings harder than the market (beta 2.47).
• Priced at 29× book value. Very little hard asset backing here.
• Price/sales of 17.2× is higher than 89% of Information Technology companies.

What the score is made of

Each factor is half a curve over reported figures and half a rank among the other Information Technology companies (momentum is judged against fixed thresholds only), and the five are blended by weight. The score is where that blend places it in the S&P 500. It describes the last filing and the current price. It is not a forecast.

• Capital spending is missing from its filings, so free cash flow cannot be worked out. Operating cash flow stands in for the cash test, against a stricter bar.
• Each factor except momentum is half fixed thresholds, half rank among the 73 Information Technology companies.

The financials

The financials, five years deep

Pulled from AppLovin's XBRL filings on SEC EDGAR. Italic rows are worked out from the others.

What AppLovin says it does

Our mission is to create meaningful connections between companies and their ideal customers. We provide end-to-end artificial intelligence-powered ("AI") advertising solutions for businesses to reach, monetize and grow their global audience. Our scaled business model is intricately linked to the advertising ecosystem, providing a durable competitive advantage. We generate revenue when our advertisers achieve their return on advertising spend targets with our advertising solutions, ensuring that their success directly fuels our growth. AppLovin is critical to the success of advertisers and publishers seeking to solve marketing and monetization challenges. Through our technologies and scaled distribution, advertisers are able to better place content so that it is discovered by the right audience, manage, optimize, and analyze their marketing investments, and improve the monetization of their content, and publishers are able to better…

Risk factors APP lists in its 10-K

• Business, Operational, and Industry Factors
• Ownership of our Class A common stock and Governance
• Our results of operations are likely to fluctuate from period-to-period, which could cause the market price of our Class A common stock to decline
• Security breaches, improper access to or disclosure of our data or client data, other hacking and phishing attacks on our systems, or other cyber incidents could harm our reputation and adversely affect our business
• Our company culture has contributed to our success and if we cannot maintain this culture as we grow, our business could be harmed
• The failure to attract new clients, the loss of clients, or a reduction in spending by these clients could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations
• The advertising ecosystem is intensely competitive. If clients prefer our competitors’ products or services over our own, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected
• Our future growth may involve expansion into new business opportunities, and any efforts to do so that are unsuccessful or are not cost-effective could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations
• Our business is subject to general macroeconomic conditions and a variety of other factors beyond our control that could adversely affect our revenue and results of operations
• Our international operations are subject to increased challenges and risks
• We plan to continue to consider opportunities to expand and diversify our operations through strategic acquisitions and partnerships. We face a number of risks related to strategic transactions we may pursue
• We face risks related to our strategic transactions, which may not achieve our strategic objectives, may disrupt our operations or result in unexpected liabilities or expenses
• We generally do not have long-term agreements with our clients
• If we do not successfully or cost-effectively invest in, protect and enhance our brands and reputation, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected
• Third parties with whom we do business may be unable to honor their obligations to us or their actions may put us at risk
• The development and use of AI in our business, combined with an uncertain regulatory environment, may adversely affect our business, reputation, financial condition or results of operations
• We are subject to governmental export controls and economic sanctions laws that could impair our ability to compete in global markets or subject us to liability if we violate the controls
• Changes in tax laws or tax rulings could adversely affect our effective tax rates, business, financial condition, and results of operations
• We may have exposure to greater than anticipated tax liabilities
• We may not be able to realize tax savings from our international structure, which could materially and adversely affect our results of operations
• If we are found liable for content or advertising that is served through our advertising solutions, our business could be adversely affected
• Legal or regulatory proceedings and settlements could cause us to incur additional expenses or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations
• Failure to protect or enforce our proprietary and intellectual property rights or the costs involved in such enforcement could adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations
• We are, and may in the future be, subject to intellectual property disputes, which are costly to defend and could require us to pay significant damages and could limit our ability to use certain technologies in the future
• We may be required to record a significant charge to earnings if our goodwill becomes impaired
• We have indebtedness, and our obligations thereunder may limit our operational flexibility or otherwise adversely affect our business, financial condition, and results of operations
• We may be unable to generate sufficient cash flow to satisfy our significant debt service obligations, which could have a material and adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows
• We may require additional capital to meet our financial obligations and support business growth, and this capital may not be available on acceptable terms or at all
• We are considered a “controlled company” within the meaning of the Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, and, as a result, we qualify for exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements
• The market price of our Class A common stock has been, and could continue to be, volatile, and you could lose all or part of your investment
• The issuance of additional stock in connection with financings, acquisitions, investments, our equity incentive plans, or otherwise will dilute all other stockholders

Filings

Other Information Technology companies