AppLovin said after the market closed on Wednesday, Nov. 4, that its third-quarter revenue rose 55% to $2.18 billion, and Yahoo Finance reported that the figure topped the $2.07 billion analysts expected. Shares jumped 23% in premarket trading on Thursday, Nov. 5. The ad-technology company’s board also raised its stock buyback authorization by $3.2 billion.
The jump came on the day the rest of the market fell hard. Yahoo Finance’s market report says the Dow dropped 3.44%, or 1,833.06 points, to close at 51,523.06, while the Nasdaq Composite fell 5.5% as chip and artificial-intelligence stocks sold off. Anyone holding AppLovin directly, or through a fund that owns it, watched one stock move the opposite way from the market around it.
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How big was the quarter?
AppLovin’s third-quarter results release puts revenue at $2.18 billion, up 55% from a year earlier, and nine-month revenue at $5.95 billion, up 56%. Net income was $1.44 billion, up 72%, a 66% net margin. Adjusted EBITDA, a measure of operating profit that leaves out items such as interest and taxes, was $1.84 billion, up 59%.
A year earlier, third-quarter revenue was $1.41 billion, so the quarter added roughly $780 million. The company sold its apps business on June 30, 2025, according to the filing, and the year-ago figure leaves that business out. Operating cash flow and free cash flow were each about $1.4 billion. Diluted earnings per share came to $4.30, against the $4.04 analysts had projected, according to Yahoo Finance.
Where does the $3.2 billion come from?
The company’s quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission says the board authorized an increase of about $3.2 billion to the share repurchase program in October. Before that, $394.3 million remained under the program as of Sept. 30. The release says the total available after the increase stood at $3.6 billion at the end of October.
AppLovin gave this reason: “Given continued confidence in the Company’s future.” An authorization is a ceiling on what the company may spend, not a promise to spend it. The pace shows in the numbers, though. In the third quarter AppLovin repurchased or withheld 4.1 million Class A shares for about $1.4 billion, and the filing puts nine-month repurchases at $2.9 billion.
The company had 331 million shares outstanding at the end of the quarter. Buying back stock shrinks that count, which spreads earnings over fewer shares. Dividing the filing’s totals, third-quarter buybacks averaged about $339 a share, and the nine-month purchases about $396 a share.
What is on the balance sheet?
AppLovin reported $3.17 billion in cash and cash equivalents at the end of September, up from $2.49 billion at the end of 2025. Long-term debt stood at $3.52 billion. In the third quarter the company spent about $1.4 billion on buybacks, roughly what it generated in free cash flow.
The filing also says AppLovin had no material loss contingencies related to legal proceedings at Sept. 30, 2026, and does not expect the outcome of its legal and regulatory matters to have a material adverse effect.
What does the company expect next?
For the fourth quarter, AppLovin guided to revenue between $2.365 billion and $2.395 billion, and adjusted EBITDA between $1.995 billion and $2.025 billion, an 84% to 85% margin. Yahoo Finance said analysts had anticipated fourth-quarter revenue near $2.25 billion, so the company’s range sits above that mark.
Wall Street analysts raised their price targets after the report. According to Yahoo Finance, BTIG lifted its target to $450 from $396 with a Buy rating, and Needham reiterated Buy with a $475 target. Yahoo Finance calculates that those targets imply about 35% and 43% upside from the stock’s level.
Targets of that kind are opinions of the firms that publish them, and they change often after an earnings report. The company’s own guidance and filed figures are the firmer ground: revenue of $2.18 billion this quarter, and a stated range for the next one.
How wide was Thursday’s gap between winners and losers?
Thursday’s selloff hit chip makers hardest. Yahoo Finance says the PHLX Semiconductor Index dropped 12.25%, the VIX volatility gauge jumped as much as 65% to 27.45, and the Nasdaq entered correction territory, which means a fall of 10% or more from a recent high.
Yahoo Finance’s report says the sell-off erased Wednesday’s post-election rally. Retail investors were net sellers of about $358 million in individual stocks as of 2:58 p.m. Eastern, and Brent crude traded near $98 a barrel with U.S. crude near $90.
The premarket gain was reported before the regular session opened, so the move in AppLovin shares during the trading day can differ from the 23% figure. Share prices around earnings reports can swing sharply in either direction within hours.
For retirees and near-retirees with money in stock funds, the lesson from a day like this is practical. Part of a household’s cash may need to sit where a 5% daily drop in the market cannot reach it, such as insured savings, certificates of deposit and Treasury bills.
Is the cash you will need soon sitting where a 5% market drop cannot reach it?
Thursday showed how fast a retirement account can swing: the Nasdaq lost 5.5% in one session while a single stock gained more than 20% before the open. Cash a household expects to need in the next year or two is the money that a day like that can hurt.
Make Your Savings Pay You is an 11-page guide that walks through every dollar insured, even above $250,000 at one bank, and Treasury bills from $100, free of state and local income tax. It also includes a ladder you can copy, so money comes due on a schedule, and a cash-map worksheet.
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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.
Warren Cohen is a finance writer based in Phoenix, Arizona, covering personal finance topics including credit, banking, and beginner investing. He earned his degree in business administration from Arizona State University and began his career working in consumer finance, where he gained direct experience with lending and credit systems. He now writes for personal finance websites and fintech platforms, focusing on clear, practical content that helps readers make informed financial decisions.
