AppLovin (APP) Stock Today: Big Money Buys as AI Engine Delivers

As of Sunday, November 23, 2025, AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ: APP) is back in the spotlight — not because markets are open, but because a fresh wave of institutional filings and analysis has landed over the weekend. New 13F disclosures show multiple funds adjusting positions in AppLovin, while new research pieces debate whether the AI‑powered ad tech giant is still undervalued despite its stunning run. ^[1]

At Friday’s close, AppLovin stock finished around $520.26 per share, leaving the company valued at roughly $160–176 billion, depending on the data provider. ^[2]

Key takeaways for November 23, 2025

Multiple funds disclosed sizable APP positions for Q2 2025, including Vestor Capital, Rhumbline Advisers, Left Brain Wealth Management, and TD Waterhouse Canada, reinforcing heavy institutional interest in the stock. ^[3]
Q3 2025 results remain the core bull case: revenue jumped 68% year over year to $1.41 billion, net income from continuing operations nearly doubled to $836 million, and adjusted EBITDA reached $1.16 billion, with guidance calling for another 12–14% sequential revenue growth in Q4. ^[4]
Fresh valuation work from Simply Wall St argues APP may be about 28% undervalued”, with a fair value estimate near $719 per share, even as the stock trades at a P/E above 60x — more than double sector averages. ^[5]
Wall Street remains overwhelmingly bullish: recent summaries show 15–25 analysts rating APP a Buy or Strong Buy, with an average or median price target around the mid‑$600s to $700 range, and several targets now in the $750–$850 band. ^[6]
Risks are not going away: the U.S. SEC is still probing AppLovin’s data‑collection practices following short‑seller allegations, and the stock’s rich valuation leaves it vulnerable to regulatory or growth shocks. ^[7]

Today’s AppLovin headlines: What changed on November 23, 2025?

Here’s a rundown of today’s notable APP‑related news and commentary dated November 23, 2025:

1. Vestor Capital opens a major new APP position

A new MarketBeat report shows Vestor Capital LLC opened a new position of 236,571 APP shares in Q2 2025, worth roughly $82.8 million at the time of filing. AppLovin now accounts for about 2.5% of Vestor’s portfolio, making it the firm’s 6th‑largest holding and representing roughly 0.07% of AppLovin’s shares outstanding. ^[8]

The same piece highlights:

APP’s Q3 diluted EPS of $2.45, beating consensus estimates (around $2.34).
Quarterly revenue of $1.41 billion, up 68% year over year, with net margin above 50% and a return on equity above 250%.
A consensus Moderate Buy” rating and an average target price near $658, with several firms lifting targets into the $740–$840 range after earnings. ^[9]

2. Left Brain Wealth Management boosts holdings

In a separate report, Left Brain Wealth Management LLC disclosed it increased its stake in AppLovin by 58.1% during Q2, now holding 14,972 shares worth about $5.24 million. APP has become roughly 1.8% of the firm’s portfolio and its 22nd‑largest position. ^[10]

The article again underlines that institutional investors collectively own about 41.85% of AppLovin’s shares, reflecting how deeply embedded the stock has become in professional portfolios. ^[11]

3. TD Waterhouse Canada ramps up exposure

A third MarketBeat alert reports TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. grew its APP holdings by 251.3% in Q2, now owning 2,505 shares after purchasing an additional 1,792 shares. The stake was valued at about $843,000 in the latest filing. ^[12]

The same disclosure notes that smaller banks and advisory firms — such as Hilltop National Bank and LFA Lugano Financial Advisors — have also initiated tiny starter positions in APP, signaling widening institutional participation even at smaller AUM levels. ^[13]

4. Rhumbline Advisers reshapes a $101 million position

Another MarketBeat piece today shows Rhumbline Advisers remains one of the larger institutional holders, with 288,650 shares of AppLovin valued around $101.05 million. The firm trimmed its position by 36.7% during Q2 (selling 167,052 shares) but still owns about 0.09% of the company. ^[14]

Rhumbline’s filing also reiterates that institutional and hedge fund ownership of APP stands near 42%, with large investors such as Legal & General Group, DNB Asset Management, and the Swiss National Bank all having meaningful stakes after adding shares earlier in the year. ^[15]

5. Simply Wall St: Undervalued” but richly priced

A new article from Simply Wall St, also dated November 23, 2025, takes a deep dive into AppLovin’s valuation. Key points: ^[16]

Their narrative‑driven model pegs APP’s fair value at about $718.71 per share, versus the recent close around $520.26 — implying roughly 27–28% upside.
The stock has surged more than 52% year‑to‑date and delivered a total shareholder return above 3,600% over the last three years, putting it among the market’s most explosive AI winners.
Despite that bullish narrative, the piece warns that APP trades at ~60x earnings versus an industry average under 30x, suggesting the market already prices in a lot of future growth and leaving little room for disappointment.

The article ultimately frames APP as a high‑quality AI advertising play where long‑term prospects look strong, but execution and regulation have to keep up with the valuation. ^[17]

6. Motley Fool & Nasdaq: Can APP be worth more than Palantir?

A Motley Fool analysis, syndicated on Nasdaq and Yahoo Finance today under the title Prediction: 2 Artificial Intelligence (AI) Stocks Will Be Worth More Than Palantir Technologies in 3 Years”, names AppLovin as one of two AI stocks that could surpass Palantir’s current market value by 2028. ^[18]

According to the piece:

AppLovin’s Axon recommendation engine uses machine‑learning models to match advertiser demand with the best publisher inventory, and ad spend on Axon 2.0 has roughly quadrupled since its mid‑2023 launch. ^[19]
Wall Street consensus sees APP’s earnings growing at about 53% annually over the next three years; if that happens, the article estimates APP’s market value could rise about 110% to roughly $370 billion, even while its earnings multiple compresses from the mid‑60s to the high‑30s. ^[20]

The author stresses this is a scenario, not a guarantee, and that such outcomes depend on AppLovin continuing to execute flawlessly on its AI and platform strategy. ^[21]

7. StreetInsider: Morgan Stanley links APP to agentic commerce”

A premium note on StreetInsider titled What will Agentic Commerce mean for AppLovin (APP), Unity (U) and The Trade Desk (TTD)?” cites a Morgan Stanley report arguing that agentic commerce” — AI systems that can autonomously shop and transact — could transform how advertising and retail interact. AppLovin is highlighted as one of the companies potentially positioned to benefit from this shift, thanks to its AI‑driven performance marketing stack. ^[22]

Details are paywalled, but the inclusion of APP in that short list underscores how firmly the company is now embedded in the market’s AI‑commerce narrative.

Stock snapshot: APP price action and technical backdrop

From a trading perspective, APP is coming off a volatile stretch:

Last close: about $520.26 per share (as of the close on November 21, 2025). ^[23]
Intraday range (last session): roughly $489.77–$529.00 with volume just over 6 million shares.
52‑week range: approximately $200.50 on the low end and $745.61 at the high end. ^[24]
Momentum: APP is up about 63% over the past year, yet sits roughly 30% below its 52‑week high, reflecting both the magnitude of its earlier rally and the sharp tech/AI pullback in recent weeks. ^[25]
Key moving averages: the 50‑day simple moving average is around $611, while the 200‑day sits near $471, meaning APP now trades below its 50‑day but still well above its 200‑day, a classic strong uptrend, currently correcting” look. ^[26]

On valuation metrics, sites like WallStreetZen estimate a trailing P/E near 62x, price‑to‑sales around 32x, and price‑to‑book over 100x, all well ahead of typical software peers — underscoring just how much future growth the market is baking in. ^[27]

Fundamental backdrop: Q3 2025 still drives the story

The latest earnings remain the anchor for nearly all of today’s commentary. On November 5, 2025, AppLovin reported: ^[28]

Q3 revenue:$1.41 billion, up 68% year‑on‑year.
Net income from continuing operations:$836 million, up about 93% versus a year ago.
Diluted EPS:$2.45, nearly double the prior‑year quarter and ahead of consensus estimates.
Adjusted EBITDA:$1.16 billion, representing 79% growth and sustaining extremely high margins.
Guidance for Q4 2025: revenue between $1.57 and $1.60 billion (12–14% sequential growth) and adjusted EBITDA between $1.29 and $1.32 billion, implying 82–83% margins.

According to PPC Land’s read‑out of management commentary, this performance is being powered by: ^[29]

Continuous AI model improvements in its Axon engine for core gaming advertisers.
Early traction from e‑commerce and web‑shop advertisers, who are expanding beyond the U.S. into international markets (excluding the EU, for now).
Very lean sales and marketing spend — just $48.6 million in Q3 — as the self‑service Axon Ads platform and AI‑driven workflows reduce the need for a large human salesforce.
A $3.2 billion incremental share repurchase authorization in Q3, taking total remaining buyback capacity to $3.3 billion, signaling strong confidence in future cash generation.

AppLovin also highlighted its inclusion in the S&P 500, a milestone that tends to pull in more index and benchmark‑tracking institutional capital — one reason today’s flurry of holdings disclosures matters. ^[30]

Axon and AI: The core of the bull thesis

Most of today’s bullish analysis — from Motley Fool to Simply Wall St — centers on AppLovin’s Axon 2.0 engine and the broader platform shift from a gaming‑heavy ad network to a diversified AI‑driven performance marketing ecosystem. ^[31]

Key elements of that story include:

Quadrupled ad spend on Axon 2.0 since its 2023 launch, as the machine‑learning system optimizes bidding and placements in real time. ^[32]
A self‑service Axon Ads interface that now uses conversational prompts and multiple AI agents” to onboard advertisers, check compliance, and monitor creative quality, with generative‑AI tools for ad creation in development. ^[33]
A growing shift from game‑only ads to a broader mix of e‑commerce and retail campaigns, which should improve ad relevance, reduce fatigue, and lift conversion rates for both advertisers and publishers. ^[34]
Over one billion daily active users reachable across AppLovin’s network, creating a massive data and experimentation footprint that feeds back into Axon’s models. ^[35]

This is also where concepts like agentic commerce” come in: if AI systems can autonomously discover products, evaluate offers, and initiate purchases, platforms like Axon that already optimize performance marketing at scale could become core infrastructure in that new ecosystem. ^[36]

Wall Street and big money: Still leaning bullish

Today’s cluster of institutional filings and analyst write‑ups sends a clear message:

Institutional ownership of APP sits around 42%, with a mix of traditional asset managers, sovereign entities, and hedge funds holding the stock in size. ^[37]
Research aggregators show 15–20+ analysts covering the name, with the vast majority rating it Buy/Strong Buy, only a handful at Hold, and one or so at Sell. ^[38]
Consensus price targets sit in the mid‑$600s to around $700, while outliers from banks like Scotiabank, UBS, and Citigroup reach into the $750–$860 range. ^[39]

Layer on top of that a $3.3 billion buyback authorization and the stock’s inclusion in the S&P 500, and it’s clear that both management and Wall Street see APP as a long‑term compounder — even after its multi‑year surge. ^[40]

The other side: SEC probe, privacy risks, and valuation gravity

That said, the risk side of the ledger is getting more attention too — and today’s articles don’t ignore it.

Ongoing SEC investigation

Reuters reported in October that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission is investigating AppLovin’s data‑collection practices, following a whistleblower complaint and several short‑seller reports. ^[41]

Short‑seller allegations have claimed that AppLovin:

Collected user data in ways that allegedly violated platform terms of service (including Meta’s).
Used app permissions in ways that may have enabled silent” installs or overly aggressive ad behavior.

AppLovin has not been formally accused of wrongdoing and has hired Quinn Emanuel to conduct an internal review, but the original news of the probe knocked the stock about 14% when it broke — a reminder that regulatory overhang can quickly hit richly valued names. ^[42]

Valuation risk

Even bullish sources acknowledge that APP is expensive on traditional metrics:

P/E north of 60x and P/S over 30x, far above sector averages. ^[43]
Simply Wall St points out that APP’s P/E is more than double its industry’s average, warning that the stock may already reflect much of the expected growth.” ^[44]

Seeking Alpha and other analysts have also flagged that as Axon‑driven growth matures and compares get tougher, growth deceleration or margin compression could trigger a sharp rerating — even if the business remains fundamentally strong. ^[45]

In short, the same AI engine and network effects that make APP so compelling also mean the stock must keep performing nearly perfectly to justify its current multiples.

What today’s news means for APP investors

Putting it all together, the November 23, 2025 news flow paints a coherent picture:

Big money is still engaged: Multiple funds are adding or reshaping sizable APP positions, and index inclusion plus buybacks continue to support demand. ^[46]
The AI narrative is deepening, not fading: From Axon 2.0’s quadrupled ad spend to emerging themes like agentic commerce, AppLovin is increasingly treated as core AI advertising infrastructure, not just another ad‑tech name. ^[47]
But the bar is high: SEC scrutiny, privacy concerns, and very rich valuation multiples mean there is little margin for error. Any stumble in growth, margins, or regulatory outcomes could have an outsized impact on the share price. ^[48]

For existing or prospective investors, today’s headlines mostly reinforce the existing narrative rather than change it:

AppLovin is a high‑growth, AI‑powered advertising platform that institutions and analysts still love — but one that is priced for excellence and operating under a brighter regulatory spotlight than ever.

As always, this article is informational only and not financial advice. Anyone considering APP should weigh their risk tolerance, time horizon, and diversification, and consider speaking with a qualified financial professional before making investment decisions.

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