AppLovin stock dives 10% in New York trade even as Evercore, Morgan Stanley flag upside

14 January 2026

New York, January 14, 2026, 11:14 EST — Regular session underway.

AppLovin shares tumbled nearly 10% in late-morning trading, falling faster than the Nasdaq.
Evercore ISI kicked off coverage with an Outperform rating and set a target of $835; Morgan Stanley raised its price target to $800.
Feb. 11 earnings are the next big catalyst investors are watching closely.

AppLovin Corp shares dropped over 10% Wednesday, hitting a new intraday low despite opening higher than Tuesday’s close. The stock slipped 10.1% to $601.05, down from $668.63 at the previous session’s end.

This matters since AppLovin’s shares have turned into a volatile gauge of risk appetite in ad-tech and software, even though earnings are still weeks off. On a tape like this, minor changes in valuation chatter can trigger sharp price swings.

Analysts remain upbeat. On Wednesday, Evercore ISI initiated coverage with an Outperform rating and set a price target at $835. Morgan Stanley, meanwhile, raised its target to $800 from $750 just a day earlier. In a note on the internet sector, Morgan Stanley warned that 2026 might resemble 2025, with smaller, less-established ad platforms likely to trade at lower multiples.

Evercore’s Robert Coolbrith labeled AppLovin “the dominant ad tech platform for mobile gaming,” highlighting its growing e-commerce performance channel. He added that this shift represents “a material TAM expander,” meaning the company’s potential revenue universe is expanding. Investors

Evercore projected that combined mobile gaming and e-commerce ad spending could drive revenue and EBITDA growth north of 30% annually from 2025 to 2028. The firm noted the stock currently trades at about 36 times its fiscal 2026 EV/EBITDA multiple. It set a price target of $835, based on 35 times its 2027 EBITDA forecast.

Wall Street’s key indexes edged lower, weighed down by big-bank earnings and new U.S. economic data. The Nasdaq fell roughly 0.7% in early moves.

Other high-beta stocks like Shopify and Unity Software also fell, piling on the selling pressure in app-economy and ad-tech sectors.

AppLovin announced it will release its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings after the market closes on Feb. 11. CEO Adam Foroughi and CFO Matthew Stumpf will host a webcast to discuss the results.

Based in Palo Alto, California, the company offers marketing and advertising tools aimed at app developers and advertisers, such as AppDiscovery, MAX, and Adjust. It also operates the connected-TV platform Wurl.

Traders also keep circling back to an old concern whenever the market dips. Bloomberg News reported in October that the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission was investigating AppLovin’s data-collection methods. Reuters noted then that the SEC hadn’t accused the company of any misconduct, and it remained unclear how far the inquiry had advanced.

Next on the calendar is Feb. 11. Investors want to hear if there’s any change in the message on ad demand, the speed of the e-commerce expansion, and how management plans to position 2026 after a stock that’s lost its margin for error.

Khadija Saeed Latest posts

Khadija Saeed is a financial markets reporter at TS2.tech. Her coverage ranges from stocks and technology to emerging industries and developments across global markets. She studied economics and finance at the London School of Economics and worked in market research before becoming a financial journalist. Follow Khadija Saeed on Google News.

View all