AppLovin stock drops 3% into New Year’s market holiday; earnings and $700 level in focus

AppLovin stock drops 3% into New Year’s market holiday; earnings and $700 level in focus

NEW YORK, January 1, 2026, 10:47 ET — Market closed

  • AppLovin ended the last session lower as Wall Street finished 2025 with declines.
  • Investors are turning to the next earnings update for confirmation on growth and margins.
  • Key near-term markers include the $700 level and early-January U.S. data.

AppLovin Corp shares closed down 2.9% on Wednesday at $673.82, after trading between $671.17 and $698.23. U.S. stock markets are closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day. New York Stock Exchange

The slide matters heading into 2026 because AppLovin has become a high-multiple proxy for the AI-linked advertising trade. That has made the stock more sensitive to swings in risk appetite and interest-rate expectations than slower-growing names.

Focus is shifting to the next earnings release as investors look for evidence that AppLovin can sustain rapid growth and protect profitability. Zacks Equity Research said analysts expect quarterly earnings of $2.89 a share on revenue of about $1.6 billion, and pegged AppLovin’s forward P/E — the share price divided by expected earnings — at about 74. Nasdaq

AppLovin’s decline tracked a broader year-end pullback, with the S&P 500 down 0.74% and the Nasdaq off 0.76% in the final session of 2025, Reuters reported. “I do not expect that the last few days will have so much bearing on the performance of the next year,” said Giuseppe Sette, co-founder and president of Reflexivity. Reuters

AppLovin sells software that helps mobile app developers and advertisers buy, place and measure ads. The company markets its platform as using machine learning to improve ad targeting and performance.

In its most recent results, AppLovin reported third-quarter revenue of $1.405 billion and said it generated $1.05 billion in free cash flow. The company guided for fourth-quarter revenue of $1.57 billion to $1.60 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.29 billion to $1.32 billion; adjusted EBITDA is a profit measure that strips out items such as interest, taxes and certain non-cash charges. AppLovin

The stock remains below its 52-week high of $745.97, but far above its 52-week low of $201.00, underscoring how much upside investors are already discounting. Businessinsider

With no fresh company disclosures tied to Thursday’s holiday closure, traders have largely treated AppLovin as part of a broader tech momentum basket. That can leave the shares prone to sharper moves when liquidity is thin.

Before trading resumes Friday, investors will watch weekly initial jobless claims at 8:30 a.m. ET and construction spending at 10:00 a.m. ET on the U.S. calendar. Those releases can move Treasury yields and, by extension, rate-sensitive growth stocks. Federal Reserve Bank of New York

The next major labor-market catalyst is the U.S. employment report for December 2025, scheduled for release on Jan. 9 at 8:30 a.m. ET. A surprise in jobs growth or wages can reset expectations for Federal Reserve policy and ripple into high-valuation stocks. Bureau of Labor Statistics

For AppLovin, MarketBeat lists the next earnings date as estimated for Feb. 11 after the market closes, noting the company has not confirmed the timing. Traders typically firm up positioning once the date is set and guidance expectations start to coalesce. MarketBeat

When AppLovin reports, investors will look for revenue to land at or above the top end of management’s guidance range and for adjusted EBITDA margins to hold near recent levels. Updates on share repurchases and any commentary on advertiser demand will likely set the tone for the stock’s next leg.

Stock Market Today

  • Leadership lag by top stocks not bearish for long-term investors, data show
    January 1, 2026, 4:08 PM EST. Powerful stock leadership persists even as the biggest names drift lower. The largest stocks - often called the Magnificent 7 (Nvidia, Apple, Alphabet, Microsoft, Amazon, Meta Platforms, and Tesla) - have outsized influence on returns from market-cap-weighted indices (which weight by company size) such as the S&P 500. When these leaders lag, history shows it does not automatically presage a broad market downturn for long-term investors. It is a recurring feature of an upward-trending market: weight shifts as giants pause while broader cycles push higher. Charts and data illustrate how breadth can recover and gains continue even as top names underperform. Investors should distinguish short-term dips from a bearish outlook by focusing on the overall trend and fundamentals.
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