AppLovin Sinks 17% as Q2 Revenue Falls Short
Get the Finance newsletter
Daily finance — markets, central banks, M&A, the prints that move money. Free.
- AppLovin shares tanked 17% on Thursday after Q2 revenue of $1.92 billion fell short of the $1.94 billion analysts expected, per LSEG estimates.
- EPS met expectations exactly at $3.76, matching the LSEG consensus.
- Revenue still climbed 53% year-over-year despite the headline miss.
- CEO Adam Foroughi blamed the shortfall on the timing of advertising-model improvements as the company expands its AI-powered adtech into e-commerce.
- Foroughi told analysts the next meaningful step up in model performance landed "just after" quarter-end.
- Piper Sandler analyst James Callahan downgraded the stock to neutral, slashing the bank's price target from $665 to $385.
Why it matters: Foroughi framed the miss as a timing issue with model rollouts rather than a demand problem — revenue still grew 53% year-over-year — but Piper Sandler's 42% price-target cut (from $665 to $385) signals analysts are losing conviction on AppLovin's beat-and-raise cadence. The downgrade directly questions whether the AI-adtech e-commerce push can keep delivering upside surprises.
