What Happened?

Shares of mobile app advertising platform AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) jumped 3.3% in the afternoon session after analysts at Scotiabank upgraded the stock to a "strong-buy" rating. The investment bank's positive reassessment of the mobile technology company has signaled renewed confidence in its growth prospects. This upgrade is the latest in a series of optimistic analyst ratings for AppLovin. Scotiabank's analyst highlighted that AppLovin has "blown through the Rule of 40," a key metric for software investors that balances revenue growth with profit margins. To pass the test, a company's combined growth rate and profit margin should exceed 40%.

After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $356.45, up 3.3% from previous close.

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What Is The Market Telling Us

AppLovin’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 62 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.

AppLovin is up 4.3% since the beginning of the year, but at $356.45 per share, it is still trading 30.1% below its 52-week high of $510.13 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of AppLovin’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $5,467.

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