New York, Feb 13, 2026, 11:41 a.m. EST — Regular session
- AppLovin stock clawed back roughly 1.5% in late morning trading, following a sharp 20% drop the previous day.
- Q4 revenue jumped 66%. The company set Q1 revenue guidance in a range of $1.745 billion to $1.775 billion.
- Price targets came down after the results, though a number of analysts stuck with their bullish calls.
AppLovin (APP.O) was up roughly 1.5% at $372.55 in late morning trade Friday in New York, following a bruising 20% slide that left it at $366.91 the previous session. Shares bounced between $359.18 and $382.16 during the day. 1
This rebound comes hard on the heels of a sharp reset for a stock that had been riding high expectations, leaving investors weighing whether Thursday’s rout marked a definitive turning point or just opened another chapter. Much of the broader argument centers on how to value “AI winners” as growth stocks keep getting repriced, each in turn.
AppLovin posted fourth-quarter revenue of $1.658 billion late Wednesday, up 66% from the same period last year. Adjusted EBITDA hit $1.399 billion. (The company’s adjusted EBITDA figure excludes interest, taxes, depreciation, and other items—it’s not a GAAP measure.) For the first quarter, AppLovin expects revenue between $1.745 billion and $1.775 billion, with adjusted EBITDA between $1.465 billion and $1.495 billion, pointing to an 84% margin. Free cash flow for the quarter landed at $1.31 billion.
Still, price targets took a hit up and down Wall Street. Jefferies dropped its target to $700 from $860 but stuck with a buy, describing the quarter as “impressive,” The Fly noted. Goldman Sachs went to $585 from $710 and held steady with a neutral, per MT Newswires. 2
On the call, CEO Adam Foroughi doubled down on AppLovin’s core message, emphasizing the ad system’s ability to adapt no matter how user habits or formats shift: “We are not tied to any specific genre or format.” CFO Matt Stumpf, for his part, told analysts the company occupies a unique space: “The combination of growth, profitability, Free Cash Flow, and capital returns we’re delivering is extraordinarily rare.” 3
Traders are eyeing AppLovin’s move outside mobile gaming ads, like its e-commerce push, to see if it can bring in fresh revenue without squeezing margins. The first-quarter forecast points to just mid-single-digit sequential growth after a typically strong Q4, a stretch where the stock has begun to lose some of its cushion.
The risk remains obvious: ad budgets can pull back quickly, and competition in ad-tech isn’t letting up. Should major platforms introduce fresh AI features that alter pricing or performance, or if investor appetite slips again, APP could take another leg down before stabilizing.
APP eked out a small gain Friday as U.S. equities steadied, following a weaker inflation print that cooled rate fears and let some of Thursday’s beaten-down growth stocks recover a bit. 4
Eyes turn now to first-quarter earnings, with Zacks’ calendar pointing to May 6 as the likely date for the next release. 5
