Key TakeawaysWhile stocks have been on a strong rally the past two years, market volatility has returned.Stocks with relative price strength against peers show strong fundamentals and investor confidence.Stocks like Life Time Group, AppLovin, Pitney Bowes and Urban Outfitters display relative price strength.The U.S. stock market experienced a remarkable rally over the last two years, but volatility returned in mid-December, disrupting the much-anticipated Santa Claus rally. Market fluctuations have persiste ...

Core Viewpoint - Growth investors are focused on stocks with above-average financial growth, but identifying such stocks can be challenging due to associated risks and volatility [1] Group 1: Company Overview - AppLovin (APP) is highlighted as a recommended growth stock with a favorable Growth Score and a top Zacks Rank [2] - The company has a historical EPS growth rate of 229.4%, with projected EPS growth of 50.7% this year, significantly higher than the industry average of 24.8% [4] Group 2: Financial Metrics - AppLovin's asset utilization ratio (sales-to-total-assets ratio) is 0.8, indicating that the company generates $0.8 in sales for every dollar in assets, outperforming the industry average of 0.64 [5] - The company's sales are expected to grow by 23.1% this year, compared to the industry average of 7.4% [6] Group 3: Earnings Estimates - There has been a positive trend in earnings estimate revisions for AppLovin, with the Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current year increasing by 4.5% over the past month [7] - The combination of a Zacks Rank 1 and a Growth Score of A positions AppLovin well for potential outperformance in the market [9]

When deciding whether to buy, sell, or hold a stock, investors often rely on analyst recommendations. Media reports about rating changes by these brokerage-firm-employed (or sell-side) analysts often influence a stock's price, but are they really important?Let's take a look at what these Wall Street heavyweights have to say about AppLovin (APP) before we discuss the reliability of brokerage recommendations and how to use them to your advantage.AppLovin currently has an average brokerage recommendation (ABR) ...

Market Overview - Growth stocks with high potential upside can deliver significant returns over years or decades [1] - The S&P 500's strong performance in 2023 has led to substantial gains for investors who invested at the start of the year [1] AppLovin - AppLovin helps businesses monetize mobile games and has expanded into e-commerce, driving investor excitement [3] - The company's sales totaled $3.3 billion in the first nine months of 2024, a 43% year-on-year increase [3] - Net income surged by over 430% to $980.6 million during the same period [3] - AppLovin was unprofitable in 2022 but has shown impressive growth recently, leading to its inclusion in the Nasdaq-100 index [4] - An $11,000 investment in AppLovin at the start of 2023 would have grown to approximately $339,000 by the end of 2024 [4] - The stock trades at 100 times trailing earnings and 28 times revenue, indicating a high valuation [5] MicroStrategy - MicroStrategy's stock has surged due to its bullish strategy on Bitcoin, despite its primary business being business intelligence solutions [6] - The company holds 450,000 bitcoins as of January 20, making it the largest corporate holder of Bitcoin [7] - An $11,000 investment in MicroStrategy at the start of 2023 would have grown to $225,000 by the end of 2024 [6] - The company has incurred losses in three consecutive quarters and is highly sensitive to Bitcoin price fluctuations [8] Carvana - Carvana, an online used-car retailer, has seen significant gains despite past profitability struggles [9] - An $11,000 investment in Carvana at the start of 2023 would have grown to $472,000 by the end of 2024 [10] - The company has posted modest profits in the past three quarters due to improved economic conditions and interest rate cuts [12] - Profit margins remain tight, and the economic outlook is still uncertain, making the stock a risky investment [12]

Company Overview - AppLovin operates a mobile app marketing platform that provides tools for developers to improve monetization and marketing of their content, both in the US and internationally [1] - The company offers e-commerce advertising services that match advertiser demand with publisher supply through auctions, along with bidding software to optimize advertising inventory value [2] - AppLovin's 'Adjust' platform provides analytics, visibility, and insights to help marketers grow their apps from early stage to maturity [2] Business Strategy and Diversification - Historically driven by mobile game advertising, AppLovin is diversifying its customer base, with a newer e-commerce beta program that includes several hundred advertisers, including beauty and cosmetics companies [3] - The company's growth opportunity lies in scaling its advertising products to non-gaming advertisers, leveraging its expertise in mobile game advertising [5] Financial Performance - In Q3, AppLovin reported earnings of $1.25 per share, a 317% increase year-over-year, with sales surging 39% to $1.2 billion [7] - The company guided higher for Q4, forecasting revenue of $1.25 billion, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.18 billion [7] - AppLovin has surpassed earnings estimates in the past six quarters, with a trailing four-quarter average earnings surprise of 26.2% [8] - Analysts have raised full-year EPS estimates for 2025 by 6.25% to $6.12 per share, representing a potential growth rate of 50.6% year-over-year, with revenues expected to climb 23.5% to $5.68 billion [8] Analyst Sentiment and Market Performance - Analysts remain bullish on AppLovin, with UBS highlighting positive initial results from the e-commerce beta program [4] - Oppenheimer reiterated an 'outperform' rating, emphasizing that AppLovin's total addressable market could double in the short term if growth opportunities are seized [6] - AppLovin's stock delivered a 712% return in 2024 and continues to show relative strength, breaking out to the upside with increasing volume and buying pressure [9][12] - Empirical research shows a strong correlation between near-term stock movements and earnings estimate revisions, with AppLovin benefiting from positive revisions [13] Growth Potential and Investment Appeal - AppLovin is backed by a leading industry group and a history of earnings beats, making it a compelling investment with durable fundamentals and an appealing technical trend [14] - The company ranks highly in the Zacks Growth Style Category, indicating potential for outperformance based on strong sales and earnings growth [14] - Recent positive earnings estimate revisions are expected to create a 'floor' for the stock, reducing the likelihood of sudden downside moves [15]

Wall Street bulls held their ground to start 2025. Last week, investors celebrated a slightly cool inflation reading that increased the likelihood of multiple rate cuts this year. On top of that, JPMorgan, Taiwan Semiconductor, and others kicked off fourth quarter earnings season on a high note.See the Zacks Earnings Calendar to stay ahead of market-making news.Investors and business leaders are also cheering on the pro-growth policies of the second Trump administration.Given this broadly bullish backdrop, ...

Software stocks carried the tech torch over much of the second half of 2024, but the iShares Expanded Tech-Software ETF ( IGV ) has lost steam lately amid a steep rise in market interest rates. Some up-and-coming software companiesFreelance Financial Writer | Investments | Markets | Personal Finance | RetirementI create written content used in various formats including articles, blogs, emails, and social media for financial advisors and investment firms in a cost-efficient way. My passion is putting a narra ...

Uttam is a growth-oriented investment analyst whose equity research primarily focuses on the technology sector. Semiconductors, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud software are some of the key sectors that are regularly researched and published by him. His research also focuses on other areas such as MedTech, Defense Tech, and Renewable Energy. In addition, Uttam also authors The Pragmatic Optimist Newsletter along with his wife, Amrita Roy, who is also an author on the newsletter as well as on this platform. ...

AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP ) was one of the best performers of 2024, surging over 700%. Its meteoric rise was driven by the company's ability to crack a technological hurdle, unlocking a completely new advertising market in mobile games.I aim to invest in companies with perfect qualitative attributes, buy them at an attractive price based on fundamentals, and hold them forever. I hope to publish articles covering such companies approximately 3 times per week, with extensive quarterly follow-ups and constant upda ...

Wall Street ended lower as stronger-than-expected jobs data diminished expectations for further interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve. Last week, all three major indices — the Nasdaq Composite, the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average — decreased by 3.54%, 2.5% and 1.8%, respectively.The Labor Department reported on Friday, January 11, 2025, that nonfarm payrolls in December soared by 256,00 against 212,00 in November and came above the Dow Jones forecast of 155,000 jobs. The unemployment rate a ...