TLDR
- Oppenheimer kept its Outperform rating on AppLovin but cut its price target from $740 to $660
- Wedbush also kept an Outperform rating with a $640 price target
- Both firms are bullish on the AXON 2.0 platform expanding beyond mobile gaming
- AppLovin is rolling out AI video ads and dynamic product catalogs as part of its e-commerce push
- APP stock is down about 28% year-to-date and fell ~3% in premarket trading Friday
AppLovin got attention from two Wall Street firms this week, with both Oppenheimer and Wedbush backing the stock despite a rough start to 2026. APP is down over 28% year-to-date, and fell around 3% in premarket trading on Friday.
Oppenheimer trimmed its price target to $660 from $740 but kept its Outperform rating. The firm pointed to AXON 2.0’s growth potential outside of gaming as the main reason for staying positive.
Near-term catalysts flagged by Oppenheimer include new campaign types, generative AI creative tools, and a lead-generation push. The upcoming general availability of AXON 2.0 was also highlighted as a key demand driver.
Wedbush, led by analyst Alicia Reese, kept its $640 price target and Outperform rating. The firm hosted a call with AppLovin to go over the technology roadmap, e-commerce expansion plans, and the competitive landscape.
Reese’s team described AppLovin as “aggressively transforming” from a mobile gaming ad network into a broader AI-driven performance marketing platform.
E-Commerce Push Takes Center Stage
The immediate focus, according to Wedbush, is the aggressive scaling of AppLovin’s e-commerce self-service platform. The rollout includes 30-60 second AI video ads and dynamic product catalogs.
“As they move toward general availability of the e-commerce product… AppLovin is positioned to capture a massive TAM expansion,” said Reese and her team.
The core gaming business is still expected to grow at 20% to 30%, which Wedbush describes as a stable base supporting the wider expansion.
Competitive Position
On competition, Wedbush noted that some of AppLovin’s biggest rivals are also its partners. In probabilistic bidding environments — where user identity data is limited — AppLovin dominates, particularly in mobile gaming.
The analysts said competitors lack AppLovin’s buying tools, which leads to lower lifetime value for advertisers and drives them back to AppLovin. Smaller ad tech players can exist in the space but struggle to take real market share.
On the capital side, Wedbush said AppLovin generates strong cash flow and, with the stock trading below their view of fair value, buybacks will be the priority.
“Beyond that, it is poised to reinvest to drive organic growth primarily within its e-commerce initiative, while sparingly evaluating M&A opportunities,” said Reese and her team.
AppLovin’s current market cap sits at around $148 billion, with average daily trading volume of roughly 5.7 million.
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