AppLovin Q3 2026: revenue up 55% to $2.18B, above a guide that implied 46–48% growth

AppLovin runs an advertising platform: Axon, its advertising recommendation system, matches advertisers’ campaigns with ad space inside mobile apps, and advertisers are charged based on their campaign goals. Per its 10-Q, it has been adding web-based e-commerce advertisers since 2024 to a customer base built largely on mobile games, and it names connected TV as a further market.

The Q2 2026 post left two open questions: whether growth would keep slowing as the company’s own range implied, and whether the gap between an 84% Adjusted EBITDA margin and much lower free cash flow was timing or structure. The 8-K and the 10-Q filed the same afternoon answer the first clearly and the second only in part.

AppLovin Q3 2026 results at a glance

$ millions, except per share and %	Q3 2026	Q2 2026	Q3 2025
Revenue	2,185	1,924	1,405
Total costs and expenses	476	429	326
Income from operations	1,709	1,494	1,079
Net income	1,439	1,267	836
Diluted EPS	$4.30	$3.76	$2.45
Adjusted EBITDA	1,842	1,614	1,158
Adjusted EBITDA margin	84%	84%	82%
Free cash flow	1,418	863	1,049

Revenue rose about 14% from Q2 (our arithmetic). The operating margin was about 78%, against about 78% in Q2 and about 77% a year earlier (our arithmetic).

Where Q3 landed against AppLovin’s guidance

Above the range on both lines. In its August 5 release AppLovin guided Q3 revenue to $2,055–2,085 million and Adjusted EBITDA to $1,710–1,740 million at an 83% margin. Revenue came in at $2,185 million, about $100 million above the top of the range, and Adjusted EBITDA at $1,842 million, about $102 million above it (our arithmetic). The margin was 84%.

Against the year-ago $1,405 million, the revenue guidance had implied growth of about 46% to 48% (our arithmetic). The quarter grew 55%, faster than Q2’s 53%. That reverses the slowdown the Q3 guidance implied, at least for one quarter.

For Q4, AppLovin guided revenue to $2,365–2,395 million and Adjusted EBITDA to $1,995–2,025 million, an 84–85% margin, as printed. Against Q4 2025 revenue of $1,658 million, the revenue range implies growth of about 43% to 44% (our arithmetic). The release gives no GAAP equivalent for the Adjusted EBITDA guidance, citing stock-based compensation among the items it cannot forecast.

Price per install did the work, again

The 10-Q explains the growth the same way it did in Q2: better AppLovin Ads performance. Net revenue per installation rose 55% from a year earlier, and installation volume rose 2%. In Q2 the split was 58% higher revenue per install and a 2% decline in installs. So volume turned slightly positive, but almost all of the growth still comes from earning more per install rather than delivering many more installs.

By user location, United States revenue was $1,098 million, up about 60%, and the rest of the world $1,087 million, up about 52% (our arithmetic). The US share edged up to about 50% from about 49% (our arithmetic). The filings do not split revenue between gaming and e-commerce advertisers, so the Q2 question of which side drives growth cannot be answered from them.

Costs: R&D more than doubled, mostly stock pay

Total costs and expenses were $476 million, against $326 million a year earlier, still small next to revenue. The fastest-growing line was research and development, up 132% to $102 million; the 10-Q attributes $55.1 million of the increase to stock-based compensation-related payroll. Stock-based compensation across the company was $84 million, against $34 million a year earlier. Cost of revenue rose 38% to $241 million, mostly network infrastructure, and sales and marketing 42% to $69 million.

Below operating income, interest expense was $51 million, about the same as a year earlier, and other income, net was $86 million, against a $7 million expense a year earlier. The 10-Q says that includes a $46.9 million fair value gain on non-marketable equity securities and $15.9 million more interest income than a year earlier. That gain sits in net income and EPS; Adjusted EBITDA adjusts other income out. The effective tax rate was about 17%, against about 18% a year earlier (our arithmetic).

Free cash flow rebounded from Q2, helped by lower taxes

Cash, $ millions	Q3 2026	Q2 2026	Q3 2025
Net cash from operating activities	1,429	869	1,053
Free cash flow	1,418	863	1,049
Free cash flow / revenue (≈)	65%	45%	75%
Free cash flow / Adjusted EBITDA (≈)	77%	53%	91%

≈ marks our arithmetic.

In Q2, the gap between an 84% Adjusted EBITDA margin and 45% free-cash-flow conversion was mostly cash taxes. In Q3 the gap narrowed. Cash paid for income taxes was $926 million for the nine months, against $640 million for the first half, so about $286 million in Q3 (our arithmetic), well below the first-half pace. Interest paid in Q3 was about $1 million (our arithmetic: $100.8 million for nine months less $99.7 million for six). Conversion is still below the year-ago 75%, when nine-month cash taxes were only $167 million. Tax is a recurring cost that Adjusted EBITDA leaves out, so the 84% margin overstates cash by at least the tax paid.

Buybacks, $3.5B of debt and a move to Nevada

AppLovin repurchased and withheld 4.1 million shares for $1.4 billion in Q3; per the 10-Q it repurchased and retired 7.3 million shares for $2.9 billion in the first nine months. Only $394.3 million of authorization was left at September 30, so in October the board added about $3.2 billion, bringing the available amount to $3.6 billion. Class A and Class B shares outstanding fell to 331 million, from 338 million at the end of 2025. Cash was $3,174 million and long-term debt $3,516 million, so net debt was about $342 million (our arithmetic).

The same 8-K reports that on October 29 stockholders with about 67% of the voting power, a group including Adam Foroughi, Herald Chen and related trusts and LLCs, approved by written consent a plan to reincorporate AppLovin from Delaware to Nevada. The company will mail an information statement first and says the move will take effect no earlier than 20 calendar days after mailing begins. The filing gives no financial effect.

What to watch in Q4

• Growth against the 43–44% implied by guidance. Q3 came in about seven points above the top of its implied range (our arithmetic). Landing inside the Q4 range would mean growth slowing again from 55%.
• Installs vs revenue per install. Volume rose 2% in Q3 after falling in Q2. Whether install growth continues shows whether volume, not only price, contributes to growth.
• Cash taxes. Q3’s lower tax payments lifted conversion to about 65% of revenue. The full-year cash flow statement in the 10-K will show how much was timing.
• Stock-based compensation. It rose to $84 million from $34 million. It is excluded from Adjusted EBITDA but paid for in dilution, which buybacks currently offset.
• The Nevada reincorporation. The information statement will set out what changes for shareholders.

Quick answers

What was AppLovin’s revenue in Q3 2026?

$2,185 million, up 55% from $1,405 million a year earlier and above AppLovin’s own guidance of $2,055–2,085 million. Net income was $1,439 million and diluted EPS $4.30.

What is AppLovin’s Q4 2026 guidance?

Revenue of $2,365–2,395 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $1,995–2,025 million, an 84–85% Adjusted EBITDA margin. Against Q4 2025 revenue of $1,658 million, that implies growth of about 43–44% (our arithmetic).

How much stock did AppLovin buy back in Q3 2026?

It repurchased and withheld 4.1 million shares for $1.4 billion in the quarter. In October the board raised the authorization so that $3.6 billion was available for further repurchases.

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Sources and method. The income statement, balance sheet, nine-month cash flow, the free-cash-flow and Adjusted EBITDA reconciliations, the repurchase figures and the Q4 2026 guidance are AppLovin’s own disclosures in Exhibit 99.1 to the Form 8-K filed 2026-11-04 (accession 0001751008-26-000068) for the quarter ended 2026-09-30, read directly from SEC EDGAR and linked above. The Nevada reincorporation consent is Item 5.07 of the same 8-K. The filing was accepted at 16:08 ET on 2026-11-04 (EDGAR filing index), after the US market closed; the release scheduled its webinar for 5:00 p.m. ET the same day. The revenue drivers, revenue by geography, expense explanations, other income detail and the repurchase program balance come from the Form 10-Q filed 2026-11-04 (accession 0001751008-26-000069). The Q3 guidance and Q2 comparatives come from the second-quarter release (accession 0001751008-26-000057); the Q2 revenue drivers and six-month cash taxes and interest from the second-quarter 10-Q (accession 0001751008-26-000059); and Q4 2025 revenue from the fourth-quarter 2025 release (accession 0001751008-26-000005).

No consensus estimate is included, so this piece makes no claim that the quarter beat or missed expectations; the only comparisons are with AppLovin’s own guidance and with prior periods. This piece makes no claim about the share-price reaction.

Our arithmetic, labelled as such: revenue growth of about 14% from Q2; operating margins of about 78%, 78% and 77% (income from operations over revenue); revenue about $100 million and Adjusted EBITDA about $102 million above the top of the guidance ranges; the 46–48% growth implied by the Q3 guidance ($2,055–2,085 million against $1,405 million); diluted EPS up about 76% ($4.30 against $2.45); US revenue growth of about 60%, rest-of-world growth of about 52% and the US share of about 50% (49% a year earlier); the effective tax rates of about 17% and 18% (provision over pre-tax income); free cash flow growth of about 35% and free cash flow at about 65%, 45% and 75% of revenue and about 77%, 53% and 91% of Adjusted EBITDA; Q3 cash taxes of about $286 million ($926.2 million less $639.8 million) and Q3 interest paid of about $1 million ($100.8 million less $99.7 million); net debt of about $342 million ($3,516 million of long-term debt less $3,174 million of cash); and the 43–44% growth implied by the Q4 guidance ($2,365–2,395 million against $1,658 million); Q3 growth about seven points above the top of its implied range (55% against about 48%). These are approximations built on the disclosed figures, not reported numbers. The 55%, 59%, 72%, 132%, 38% and 42% growth rates are as printed in the release or 10-Q. The interpretation — that the quarter broke the deceleration the Q2 guidance implied, that growth still rests on revenue per install, and that the improved cash conversion owes much to lower tax payments — is our analysis, not a company statement, and is not a forecast.

Related: AppLovin Q2 2026, the prior quarter; Meta Q3 2026 and Alphabet Q3 2026, two other large ad platforms reporting the same quarter.