AppLovin’s revenue grew 55% year-on-year to a record $2.2bn in Q3 2026.
Net income rose 72% to $1.4bn in the three months to September 30, according to the company’s results, giving it a 66% net income margin. Adjusted EBITDA was up 59% to $1.8bn, an 84% margin.
For the first nine months of the year, AppLovin has made $5.95bn in revenue, up 56%, and $3.9bn in net income from continuing operations, up 68%.
The company is forecasting Q4 revenue of between $2.37bn and $2.4bn, with adjusted EBITDA of $2bn to $2.03bn.
AppLovin bought back and withheld 4.1m shares in the quarter at a cost of $1.4bn, and its board has approved a further $3.2bn in buybacks, taking its total authorisation to $3.6bn.
Speaking on the company’s earnings call, CEO Adam Foroughi said AppLovin’s gaming business “grew nearly 50% year-over-year, re-accelerating right alongside the rollout” of a new generation of its ad models, which have so far only been partially deployed.
“We have every mobile gaming company live, probably,” Foroughi added. CFO Matt Stumpf said the quarter’s revenue beat the top end of its guidance by around $100m, “primarily driven by the core mobile gaming business due to model improvements during the quarter.”
AppLovin doesn’t break out revenue by category, but Foroughi said its consumer advertising business, which covers e-commerce and other non-gaming advertisers, is “growing triple digits” year-on-year. He warned that it tends to have a big Q4 followed by “a weak Q1.”
AppLovin has been a pure ad tech business since selling its apps division, including its mobile games studios, to Tripledot in 2025.
Last month we learned San Diego County is taking legal action against AppLovin, claiming it served children ads for dating services, alcohol, vaping and sexual content in games played on devices with parental controls switched on.
