Overview
- Shares rose about 2% after Chief Product and Engineering Officer Giovanni Ge described the plan on a Chinese‑language podcast, with a job posting seeking a social platform architect reinforcing the effort.
- AppLovin has not announced a launch timeline, and the prospective platform would compete with entrenched players such as Meta, TikTok, and Snap.
- The development comes after a strong Q4 beat, with revenue of $1.658 billion up 66% year over year and guidance pointing to about $1.76 billion in revenue and roughly $1.48 billion in adjusted EBITDA at the midpoint.
- Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive following results, with Wedbush raising its price target to $640 and Benchmark reiterating a Buy rating with a $775 target.
- Despite Thursday’s uptick, the stock has fallen about 29% over 21 trading days on competition concerns tied to Meta and CloudX and broader software weakness, even as Forbes highlights very strong growth and high valuation multiples.