New York, Feb 26, 2026, 18:50 (EST) — After-hours
- AppLovin finished the day up 5.5% at $444.93, but shares edged down roughly 2% after hours.
- Citi initiated coverage, assigning a Buy rating and a $710 price target. Piper Sandler, meanwhile, reaffirmed its Buy, sticking with a $650 target.
- Options prices signaled traders were positioned for another sizeable one-day move.
AppLovin Corp (APP.O) tacked on 5.5% to finish Thursday at $444.93, notching a second big daily gain. Shares then slipped roughly 2% after hours, landing at $436.03. Wednesday saw a 7.2% rally. Volume hit around 5.8 million shares in Thursday’s regular session.
AppLovin keeps swinging, and those consecutive rallies stand out against the stock’s choppy recent action—sharp flips, lots of eyes on it, traders hunting for a cue. After the bell, the pullback wasn’t extreme. Still, it made clear that sellers remain ready to step in.
Citi’s Jason Bazinet has kicked off coverage of AppLovin with a Buy and slapped a $710 target on the stock. He’s betting on the Axon ad platform’s momentum, especially as it taps into Shopify-linked merchants. “Axon’s penetration of the broader Shopify universe still leaves ample runway for expansion,” Bazinet said in his note. TipRanks
Some analysts remained upbeat. James Callahan over at Piper Sandler kept his Buy call and left the $650 target unchanged in a Feb. 24 note, according to Futu News.
Options traders appeared to be bracing for a rougher ride. According to a TheFly update picked up by TipRanks, the put/call ratio sat at 0.57—well below its usual 0.95 mark. Thirty-day implied volatility landed at 73.6, pointing to an anticipated daily swing of roughly $20. (Implied volatility shows how much the market thinks the stock could move, based on current option pricing.)
An insider Form 4 hit on Feb. 24, flagged as administrative in nature. According to the footnote, 2,362 shares were withheld at $418.68, strictly for tax withholding purposes related to the vesting and settlement of restricted stock units—not a sale into the open market.
All eyes stay fixed on AppLovin’s most recent earnings. The company turned in fourth-quarter revenue of around $1.66 billion, with net income landing at about $1.10 billion. Free cash flow came in at approximately $1.31 billion for the quarter, and for the year, AppLovin tallied roughly $3.95 billion.
Executives are doubling down on their message: scaling profitably remains in reach as the company ramps up its advertising and e-commerce offerings. On the call, CFO Matt Stumpf called out “the combination of growth, profitability, Free Cash Flow, and capital returns … is extraordinarily rare.” Investing
Yet the regulatory overhang remains. Last week, Reuters said the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission confirmed to Bloomberg that the investigation into AppLovin is “still active and ongoing.” Bloomberg had requested documents related to the case. Reuters
That uncertainty represents the downside risk. Escalation — whether it’s a broadening investigation, fresh accusations, or stricter curbs on data use behind targeted advertising — could just as fast tip sentiment back, particularly with options markets still signaling big moves.
Friday brings a test: will the two-day rally keep its legs once the bell rings and liquidity pours in? Traders are also eyeing analyst notes and filings—anything that might extend the move. The next earnings report lands May 6, per Public.com’s earnings calendar.
