Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Put Options on AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP)

AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Investors bought 121,413 put options on the company. This is an increase of 80% compared to the average volume of 67,480 put options.

Key Stories Impacting AppLovin

Here are the key news stories impacting AppLovin this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Piper Sandler reiterated an Overweight rating and an $800 price target, arguing Google’s Project Genie and other competitive fears are overblown and pointing to compelling valuation and favorable gaming trends. Why Piper Sandler Says Google’s Project Genie Isn’t a Threat to AppLovin (APP)
• Positive Sentiment: Wedbush reiterated that structural moats for AppLovin and Unity remain intact despite competitors’ new product launches, supporting upside from durable ad/gaming market positions. AppLovin, Unity’s structural moats are ‘intact,’ despite CloudX launch: Wedbush
• Positive Sentiment: Zacks notes overall Wall Street analyst optimism—useful because buy-side/sell-side reaffirmations can stabilize sentiment after recent volatility tied to short reports and litigation. Is AppLovin (APP) a Buy as Wall Street Analysts Look Optimistic?
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term price forecasts and models are being updated (multi‑year projections published), which may influence investor expectations but are speculative and time‑horizon dependent. AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) Stock Price Prediction and Forecast 2026-2030 (Feb 6)
• Neutral Sentiment: Routine financial-comparison pieces are circulating (peer/metrics comparisons) — informative for longer-term investors but unlikely to move the tape immediately. Financial Comparison: AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) vs. Bbhc (OTCMKTS:TRNX)
• Negative Sentiment: Heightened bearish commentary: a Seeking Alpha author moved to a sell rating after the CloudX launch, arguing competitive risk justifies a downgrade and pressuring sentiment. Why I’m Moving To A Sell On AppLovin Following The CloudX Launch (Rating Downgrade)
• Negative Sentiment: Coverage highlighting “far more worries than a short seller’s report” amplifies uncertainty around legal, governance and competitive issues—these narrative risks can further weigh on the stock until clarified. AppLovin has far more worries than a short seller’s report
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put-option volume (121,413 puts; ~+80% vs. typical) signals elevated hedging or directional bearish bets, which increases downward pressure on short-term price dynamics.

AppLovin Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ APP opened at $406.72 on Friday. AppLovin has a 12 month low of $200.50 and a 12 month high of $745.61. The company has a market cap of $137.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 2.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $619.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $567.95. The company has a quick ratio of 3.25, a current ratio of 3.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.38.

AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The company reported $2.45 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.34 by $0.11. The business had revenue of $1.41 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. AppLovin had a net margin of 51.27% and a return on equity of 258.49%. AppLovin’s quarterly revenue was up 68.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.29 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that AppLovin will post 6.87 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on APP shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of AppLovin from $425.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Evercore reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of AppLovin in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their price target on AppLovin from $575.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on AppLovin from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut AppLovin from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Buy rating, three have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $691.23.

Insider Activity at AppLovin

In other AppLovin news, CTO Vasily Shikin sold 27,143 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.38, for a total value of $14,803,249.34. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 3,323,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,812,669,143.78. This represents a 0.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Eduardo Vivas sold 150,000 shares of AppLovin stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.91, for a total transaction of $97,636,500.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 7,133,292 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,643,131,095.72. This trade represents a 2.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 337,986 shares of company stock valued at $198,669,261. Corporate insiders own 13.66% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. lifted its position in shares of AppLovin by 160.0% during the 4th quarter. Washington Trust Advisors Inc. now owns 39 shares of the company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the period. Chilton Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in AppLovin during the third quarter worth $29,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of AppLovin during the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of AppLovin by 760.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 43 shares of the company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartwood Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of AppLovin in the 3rd quarter valued at $33,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 41.85% of the company’s stock.

AppLovin Company Profile

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.