AppLovin vs. CoreWeave: What Recent Revenue Trends Tell Investors
Key Points
CoreWeave currently demonstrates stronger absolute revenue generation than AppLovin, having surpassed its counterpart's quarterly totals during recent reporting periods.
Both companies have posted consistently higher revenue year over year across the entire observed timeline, with CoreWeave showing steeper quarter-over-quarter upward growth.
Investors analyzing these specific financial trends should watch whether the existing revenue gap between the two companies continues to widen or if historical growth rates begin to converge in upcoming quarters.
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AppLovin: Maintaining Steady Revenue Expansions
AppLovin (NASDAQ:APP) primarily provides software tools helping mobile app developers expand their audiences and monetize their digital applications.
While the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission concluded a voluntary, long-standing regulatory inquiry into the wider business operations with no recommended enforcement action, AppLovin successfully transitioned its specialized advertising software to a public self-serve model and reported a 66% net income margin for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
CoreWeave: Expanding Infrastructure and the Revenue Base
CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV) offers specialized cloud computing infrastructure and high-capacity storage solutions for intensive, complex global enterprise computing operations.
While executing a co-location agreement to expand its physical data center capacity in Sweden and securing a multi-year foundational data storage agreement with Backblaze, it finalized a private offering of senior unsecured notes and reported a -24% net income margin for the quarter ended June 30, 2026.
Why Revenue Matters for Investors
Revenue helps investors assess whether a business is successfully attracting new enterprise and individual customers, efficiently maintaining its core daily operations, and steadily expanding its overarching financial footprint across varying macroeconomic cycles over time.
Reviewing Quarterly Revenue Trends for AppLovin and CoreWeave
| Calendar quarter | AppLovin Revenue | CoreWeave Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| Q3 2024 | $835.2 million (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024) | $583.9 million (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2024) |
| Q4 2024 | $1.4 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024) | $747.4 million (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2024) |
| Q1 2025 | $1.2 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2025) | $981.6 million (quarter ended March 31, 2025) |
| Q2 2025 | $1.3 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2025) | $1.2 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2025) |
| Q3 2025 | $1.4 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025) | $1.4 billion (quarter ended Sept. 30, 2025) |
| Q4 2025 | $1.7 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025) | $1.6 billion (quarter ended Dec. 31, 2025) |
| Q1 2026 | $1.8 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2026) | $2.1 billion (quarter ended March 31, 2026) |
| Q2 2026 | $1.9 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2026) | $2.6 billion (quarter ended June 30, 2026) |
Data source: Company filings. Data as of Aug. 17, 2026.
Foolish Take
Examining revenue trends for AppLovin and CoreWeave show how the former's focus on digital advertising translates into sales peaks during the fourth quarter, when advertisers spend more to reach holiday shoppers. Meanwhile, CoreWeave's revenue has been a rocket ship soaring skyward, thanks to the massive tailwind provided by artificial intelligence.
CoreWeave's business providing computing infrastructure for AI is experiencing unprecedented demand. Consequently, its consistent upward sales trajectory allowed it to finally overtake AppLovin in 2026. In fact, CoreWeave estimates its revenue will skyrocket to a range between $3.5 billion and $3.6 billion in Q3.
AppLovin has delivered impressive sales growth, but that trend may be slowing down. Its Q2 revenue of $1.9 billion represented 53% growth over 2025. That was down from Q1's 59% year-over-year increase. Its Q3 forecast called for sales of about $2.1 billion, which indicates further deceleration. As a result, AppLovin shares dropped to a 52-week low of $303.17 on Aug. 12 as Wall Street analysts downgraded the stock.
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Robert Izquierdo has positions in CoreWeave. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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