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AppLovin Shares Plunge After Q2 Miss Despite 53% Revenue Gain

Management said delayed AI model improvements led to the shortfall and warned that rising training and compute costs could pressure near-term margins.

Overview

  • The company reported results Wednesday showing Q2 revenue of about $1.92 billion, up 53% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA near $1.6–1.61 billion that fell short of its own guidance.
  • Shares dropped sharply in after‑hours and premarket trading, sliding roughly 17% to 21% as investors punished the narrow top‑line miss and the guidance surprise.
  • CEO Adam Foroughi said the shortfall was a timing issue because the next wave of AXON model improvements landed after quarter end, not weaker advertiser demand.
  • AppLovin gave Q3 revenue guidance of $2.06–2.09 billion and adjusted EBITDA of $1.71–1.74 billion, a forecast that matched consensus closely and prompted analyst downgrades and price‑target cuts.
  • Management said it will keep investing in AI models and infrastructure that raise training and compute costs, noted consumer ad spend is growing (28% above Q4 2025), and reiterated a multi‑quarter aim of roughly 30% annual growth.