AppLovin Corporation (APP)

Which stocks rose to the top and which fell behind in the third quarter? In the quarter, the S&P 500 gained 2%, following a rise of 15% in 2Q and a loss of 4% in 1Q. But the strongest gains were concentrated within only a few sectors: Energy, Healthcare, and Information Technology. In fact, a majority of sectors were negative in the quarter. The laggards included Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Financial, Industrial, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities. In the Argus Universe Coverage (more than 500 public companies), and looking at both BUY-rated and HOLD-rated companies, the average stock performance in the third quarter was a loss of 2% and the median change was a loss of 5%. The 10 top-performing BUY-rated stocks rose 71% on average. The following is a list of those top performers (noting that only four sectors are represented.) and also includes the bottom-five performers.

This pick list highlights constituents of the Morningstar US Large Cap Index that we believe offer investors the best risk-adjusted return prospects. Stocks of large-cap companies where neither growth nor value characteristics predominate. Stocks in the top 70% of the capitalization of the U.S. equity market are defined as large cap.

AppLovin is a vertically integrated advertising technology company that serves as a demand-side platform for advertisers, a supply-side platform for publishers, and an exchange that facilitates transactions between the two. About 80% of AppLovin’s revenue comes from the DSP, AppDiscovery, while the remainder comes from the SSP, Max. AppLovin’s primary tool for future growth is Axon 2, an ad optimizer within the DSP that lets advertisers place ads based on specified return thresholds.

AppLovin's comprehensive platform of advertising solutions enable mobile video game applications, website developers, internet content publishers, and advertisers to reach, monetize, and grow global audiences. The company's core offering is its real-time, competitive advertising auction, optimizing a publisher's advertising inventory to enable user conversion and acquisition. AppLovin went public on April 15, 2021, at $80 per share, an equity value of $28.6 billion. AppLovin divested its video game apps business segment on June 30, 2025. APP became a component of the S&P 500 on September 22, 2025, and is also a component of the Nasdaq-100 Index. The company generates 48% of its revenue outside the U.S.