When artificial intelligence (AI) is upending every industry known to the world, can advertising be far behind? After crypto mining company Cipher (CIFR) got Google’s (GOOG) (GOOGL) backing for its pivot towards the industrial data center business, mobile ad tech company AppLovin (APP) is set to launch a self-serving tool targeting non-gaming advertisers on Oct. 1.
AppLovin’s AI-based ad engine, Axon Ads Manager, will do away with the manual onboarding process for the company’s e-commerce and other non-gaming customers, leaving analysts at Morgan Stanley and Phillip Securities believing that this could be a game-changer for the company. While Phillip Securities has assigned an “Accumulate” rating for the stock with a $725 price target, Morgan Stanley has considerably raised its price target on the stock to $750 from $480 while reiterating its “Overweight” rating.
Founded in 2012 and based out of the startup hub of Palo Alto, CA, AppLovin offers tools and platforms for app developers & advertisers to market, monetize, analyze, and publish mobile apps. Since its listing in April 2021, APP stock is up a whopping 1,067.8%.
Valued at a market cap of $226.6 billion, the APP stock has had a stellar 2025 so far as well, with the stock up 120% on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.
However, is this enough for AppLovin to find the love in an investor’s portfolio? Let’s try and answer that.
www.barchart.com
AppLovin’s financials are as strong as they can be, with the company reporting an earnings beat in nine consecutive quarters. The story remained the same in the most recent quarter as well, as AppLovin’s revenue and earnings both surpassed Street expectations.
In Q2 2025, revenues came in at $1.26 billion, up a considerable 77% from the previous year. Earnings witnessed an even sharper jump of almost 3 times to $2.39 per share from $0.89 per share in the same period a year ago. Moreover, it was also much ahead of the consensus estimate of an EPS of $1.96.
Meanwhile, net cash from operating activities doubled to $1.6 billion…
..
