TLDR
- AppLovin posted Q1 adjusted EPS of $3.56 and revenue of $1.84 billion, beating Wall Street estimates.
- Revenue rose 59% year-over-year; adjusted EBITDA climbed 66% to $1.56 billion with an 85% margin.
- APP stock rose 3.7% to $486.03 in premarket trading Thursday after the results.
- Q2 guidance set at $1.92–$1.95 billion in revenue and $1.62–$1.65 billion in adjusted EBITDA.
- Jefferies reiterated its Buy rating and $700 price target, citing e-commerce strength and new customer spend.
AppLovin (APP) stock climbed 3.7% to $486.03 in premarket trading Thursday after the company posted stronger-than-expected first-quarter results.
The AI-driven mobile advertising platform reported adjusted EPS of $3.56 on revenue of $1.84 billion. Wall Street had been looking for $3.49 per share on $1.77 billion in sales.
Revenue grew 59% from the same period last year. That came in well above the company’s own guidance range of 5%–7% quarter-over-quarter growth, which the actual 11% QoQ result blew past.
$APP (Applovin) #earnings are out: pic.twitter.com/uVbS5RP3tP
— The Earnings Correspondent (@earnings_guy) May 6, 2026
Adjusted EBITDA came in at $1.56 billion, up 66% year-over-year, with a margin of 85%. That topped the 84% margin the company had forecast last quarter.
AppLovin also repurchased 2.2 million Class A shares during the quarter at a total cost of $1 billion. There were 336 million Class A and Class B shares outstanding at quarter end.
Q2 Guidance and E-Commerce Push
For Q2 2026, AppLovin is guiding for revenue of $1.92–$1.95 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.62–$1.65 billion, implying a margin of 84%–85%. That’s despite Q2 typically being a seasonally softer period.
One standout detail from the report: e-commerce advertising spend hit its highest monthly level in April. The company plans a full commercial general availability launch for its e-commerce product in June.
Jefferies analyst James Heaney kept his Buy rating and $700 price target intact following the results. He pointed to the e-commerce traction and the average new customer spend of roughly $70,000 per year as reasons for confidence in future revenue growth.
A Rough Start to 2026
The strong quarter comes after a tough stretch for APP stock. The stock ended Q1 2026 down 44%, the largest percentage decline among S&P 500 companies during that period.
A broad software selloff weighed on the stock, but company-specific concerns made things worse. An ongoing SEC probe into whether AppLovin violated platform partners’ service agreements to improve ad targeting rattled investors. Multiple short-seller reports added to the pressure, including one at the end of March.
Through Wednesday’s close, APP had fallen 30.4% in 2026. Over the past 12 months, it’s still up 54.5%.
Despite the headwinds, the Q1 results show the underlying business has kept growing at a fast clip.
Jefferies noted that AppLovin’s gross profit margin stood at 87.86% for the quarter, and that the company has posted 70% revenue growth over the trailing twelve months.
The stock fell 1.9% in regular trading on Wednesday, snapping a four-day winning streak, before the earnings release after the close.
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