Why AppLovin Stock Crept Almost 2% Higher Today

Key Points

• Hardly for the first time in the adtech specialist's history, an analyst raised his price target on the shares.

• He also raised his annual revenue estimates and maintained the equivalent of a buy recommendation.

• 10 stocks we like better than AppLovin ›

Next-generation adtech company AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) saw its shares land in positive territory on Thursday, thanks in no small part to a price target raise from a prominent bank. The specialty tech company's shares saw a nearly 2% lift as a result, on a day when the S&P 500 index sank by 0.4%.

Banking on continued growth

That bank was Wells Fargo, and the analyst doing the raising was Alec Brondolo. The pundit cranked his AppLovin price target to $491 per share; previously he had flagged it as being worth $480. In making his move, he left his overweight (i.e., buy) recommendation unchanged.

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Brondolo's lift derived from adjustments to his revenue estimates for both full-year 2026 and 2027, according to reports. He pushed his top-line expectation 6% higher for the former year, and by 3% for the latter.

This, in turn, is due to the analyst's observation that web traffic to AppLovin customer sites is rising, a trend that presages higher demand for its services. He also cited other positive developments, including the fact that although overall web advertising customer growth has declined over the past few months, the industry is attracting far larger clients (who, presumably, have much higher budgets).

Let the bulls run

It isn't hard to be bullish on AppLovin these days.

Earlier this month the company delivered second-quarter results that featured a mighty 77% year-over-year surge in revenue (to almost $1.3 billion), while earnings per share (EPS) from continuing operations leaped even higher, nearly tripling to $2.39. This is a stock with serious momentum behind it, and it feels like a buy even though it's not as cheap as it once was.

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Wells Fargo is an advertising partner of Motley Fool Money. Eric Volkman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AppLovin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.