PALO ALTO, Calif. — AppLovin had told investors to expect third-quarter revenue somewhere between $2.055 billion and $2.085 billion. It came in at $2.185 billion instead, 55% higher than the same quarter last year.
The profit line moved even quicker. Last year the quarter produced $836 million in net income; this year it produced $1.439 billion, a rise of 72%. Per share, diluted, that is $4.30. Wall Street had been looking for revenue of roughly $2.07 billion, CNBC’s figures showed.
Adjusted EBITDA climbed 59%, reaching $1.842 billion — an 84% margin, or 84 cents kept from every dollar that came in. Operating cash flow was $1.4 billion for the quarter, and free cash flow matched it.
Much of that cash went straight back out the door to shareholders. AppLovin repurchased and withheld 4.1 million shares during the quarter at a cost of $1.4 billion, and its board approved a $3.2 billion increase to the buyback authorization, bringing the total to $3.6 billion as of the end of October.
The outlook for the fourth quarter sits above analyst expectations as well. The company put revenue at $2.365 billion to $2.395 billion and adjusted EBITDA at $1.995 billion to $2.025 billion.
Chief Executive Adam Foroughi told the earnings call the company had partly rolled out a new generation of its advertising models during the quarter, according to a MarketBeat summary of the call. No date was given for a full rollout.
Investors reacted quickly. The stock had closed the regular session at $271.75; by 7:46 p.m. Eastern it was trading at $333.25, up 22.6% in after-hours trading, according to CNBC market data reported by SourceFirst News.
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