New York, Feb 28, 2026, 14:36 EST — Market closed.
- AppLovin shares closed Friday at $434.77, down 2.28%, after trading between $426.50 and $447.53.
- The stock jumped 5.53% on Thursday, then reversed course a day later as tech sentiment cooled again.
- Investors head into Monday focused on macro data, short positioning in software, and any new headlines tied to an SEC probe.
AppLovin Corp (APP.O) shares closed Friday at $434.77, down 2.28%, and drifted to $433.79 in after-hours trade. The stock’s day range ran from $426.50 to $447.53, with roughly 4.9 million shares traded, according to Investing.com data. 1
The late-week dip followed a sharp jump on Thursday, as investors kept rotating in and out of high-growth tech on the back of shifting views about artificial intelligence (AI) spending and disruption. “It feels like an Nvidia hangover that’s specific to the AI space,” Michael Green, chief strategist at Simplify Asset Management, said after Thursday’s tech wobble. 2
Positioning is also part of the story. Goldman Sachs prime brokerage said in a note that hedge funds were as short as they have ever been on software and IT services stocks — a setup that can produce sudden squeezes when prices rise. A short position is a bet a stock will fall. 3
The calendar is not quiet either. “Trying to find the winners and losers” from AI has left stocks “treading water,” John Velis, Americas macro strategist at BNY, said in a Reuters week-ahead report that flagged Friday’s tech weakness. A Reuters poll cited in the same report expects the February U.S. payrolls report to show 60,000 jobs added, a data point that can move rate expectations fast. 4
For AppLovin itself, investors are still trading off the company’s latest quarterly update earlier this month. In a Feb. 11 filing, AppLovin reported fourth-quarter revenue of $1.66 billion and net income of $1.10 billion, and forecast first-quarter revenue of $1.745 billion to $1.775 billion. It also reported adjusted EBITDA of $1.39 billion — a company-defined measure meant to show core operating profit. 5
Regulatory scrutiny remains an overhang. On Feb. 20, Reuters reported that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission told Bloomberg an “investigation involving AppLovin is still active and ongoing,” while adding it has not accused AppLovin or its officials of wrongdoing. Reuters said the matter traces back to a whistleblower complaint and short-seller reports. 6
The risk case hasn’t changed much. If the jobs data pushes yields higher, high-multiple software names can reprice quickly. And any fresh detail around the SEC probe could force traders to re-open a downside scenario that has not gone away.
When trading resumes on Monday, investors will watch whether APP can stabilize after the two-day swing and whether software shorts keep unwinding. A key near-term catalyst is the U.S. Employment Situation report for February, scheduled for March 6 at 8:30 a.m. ET, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics release calendar. 7
