AppLovin Jumps About 20% Premarket After Q3 Revenue Rises 55% to a Record and Its Outlook Tops Estimates

Shares of AppLovin rose about 20% in premarket trading on Thursday, November 5, 2026, after the advertising technology company reported record third-quarter revenue and profit that beat Wall Street estimates, forecast fourth-quarter results above expectations and expanded its share repurchase program.

The company said on Wednesday, November 4, after the market close, that revenue for the quarter rose 55% from a year earlier to a record $2.185 billion, according to Benzinga. Net income climbed 72% to $1.44 billion, or $4.30 per share.

Results versus estimates

Analysts polled by FactSet had expected earnings of $4.03 per share on revenue of $2.07 billion, MarketWatch reported. Benzinga put the consensus estimates at $4.07 per share and $2.078 billion in revenue.

Adjusted EBITDA rose 59% to $1.84 billion, a margin of about 84%, and the company's net income margin was 66%. Free cash flow was $1.4 billion. Both revenue and adjusted EBITDA came in above the high end of the company's guidance range.

On the earnings call, according to a transcript, management said revenue grew 14% from the second quarter and exceeded the top of its guidance by about $100 million, driven mainly by the core mobile gaming business after improvements to its advertising models, along with continued growth from consumer advertisers. Free cash flow equaled 77% of adjusted EBITDA, up from 53% in the second quarter, and the company said it still expects full-year free cash flow conversion of roughly 70% to 75% of adjusted EBITDA.

New advertising models

Chief Executive Adam Foroughi said AppLovin partially rolled out a new generation of advertising models during the quarter and that advertisers increased their budgets as more spending met their return targets. "This was a partial rollout. The transition is still in front of us," Foroughi said on the call, according to Yahoo Finance. He said the new models improve performance most where data is sparser, including newer and smaller advertisers.

Chief Financial Officer Matt Stumpf said the largest digital advertising platforms reported third-quarter revenue growth between roughly 10% and the mid-20s percent range this earnings season. "We grew 55%, several times faster than the market," he said.

Fourth-quarter outlook

For the fourth quarter, AppLovin forecast revenue of $2.365 billion to $2.395 billion, which it said represents growth of about 43% to 44% from a year earlier, or 8% to 10% from the third quarter. It expects adjusted EBITDA of $1.995 billion to $2.025 billion. Analysts had expected fourth-quarter revenue of $2.25 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.88 billion, according to MarketWatch.

The company said that, at the midpoint, its guidance implies full-year 2026 revenue and adjusted EBITDA growth of more than 50%.

Buybacks and balance sheet

During the third quarter, AppLovin repurchased and withheld 4.1 million shares for $1.4 billion and ended the period with 331 million shares outstanding. Its board approved a $3.2 billion increase to the repurchase authorization, bringing the total available to $3.6 billion as of the end of October.

Since the program began, the company has repurchased and withheld a total of 104 million shares for $9.4 billion, at an average price of $90 per share, management said on the call. AppLovin ended the quarter with $3.17 billion in cash and $3.5 billion in long-term debt, which it said puts net leverage below 0.1 times adjusted EBITDA.

Share price snapshot

AppLovin shares closed Wednesday's regular session at $271.75, up about 10.7% on the day, and then jumped 23% to $334.06 in after-hours trading, MarketWatch reported. The stock was still down more than 55% for the year as of Wednesday's close, according to MarketWatch.

By about 7:06 a.m. ET on Thursday, the shares were trading at about $325.44 in premarket activity, roughly 19.8% above Wednesday's close, according to Yahoo Finance data. Yahoo Finance reported that if the gain holds, it would be the stock's best day in 20 months. Premarket prices are thinly traded snapshots and can change significantly before and after the 9:30 a.m. ET open.