What Happened?
Shares of mobile app advertising platform AppLovin (NASDAQ: APP) fell 5.6% in the morning session after the company wasn't added to the S&P 500 Index following the quarterly rebalancing.
On Friday, June 6, 2025, markets speculated that AppLovin was a strong contender to join the Index, meeting criteria such as a market value of at least $20.5 billion and GAAP profitability over the past four quarters, as well as the most recent quarter. APP's omission might force investors to adjust their expectations, at least for now.
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What The Market Is Telling Us
AppLovin’s shares are extremely volatile and have had 60 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 13 days ago when the stock gained 5% after the major indices rebounded (Nasdaq +2.0%, S&P 500 +1.5%) as President Trump postponed the planned 50% tariff on European Union imports, shifting the start date to July 9, 2025. Companies with substantial business ties to Europe likely had some relief as the delay reduced near-term cost pressures and preserved cross-border demand.
AppLovin is up 16.5% since the beginning of the year, but at $398.20 per share, it is still trading 21.9% below its 52-week high of $510.13 from February 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of AppLovin’s shares at the IPO in April 2021 would now be looking at an investment worth $6,107.
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