AppLovin posted very strong Q3 2024 earnings yesterday, with revenue up 39% on last year and profitability as measured by adjusted EBITDA up 72%.
CEO Adam Foroughi noted in the earnings call that followed that AppLovin is now making “over $1.5 million in run rate adjusted EBITDA per employee” – a measure of efficiency that the firm is still “seeking to improve”.
The adtech giant also indicated it is still looking to sell off its games arm, which includes hypercasual outfit Lion Studios and Game of War maker MZ, formerly known as Machine Zone. As we reported recently, AppLovin and Machine Zone recently saw over 120 layoffs, with some rumours suggesting the staff cuts followed a failed bid to sell the developer.
“Obviously, we’ve communicated in the past about the Apps business that we’ve optimized that for profitability, and we’re comfortable in divesting that business if the opportunity arises,” said CFO Matt Stumpf.
Stumpf also dismissed recent reports that it could swoop for Take-Two subsidiary Chartboost, saying there are “no plans to do in any M&A at this point on the advertising side of the business”.
Revenue for the third quarter ended September 30 was $1.2bn (up 39%). That breaks out as $835m revenue for its ad business (up 66% YoY) and $363m for its games arm (up 1% YoY). Adjusted EBITDA was $722m, up 72%.
Later in the earnings call CEO Adam Foroughi was incredibly bullish on AppLovin’s market-leading position in mobile gaming UA, saying that in terms of growing its market share further, “there’s not a whole lot to go take”.
As we’ve reported previously, AppLovin’s main rival in this space, Unity, is having huge problems integrating UA specialist IronSource into its business as AppLovin continues to dominate this lucrative market.
