AppLovin Shares Sink 20% After Muddy Waters Issues Short Report

Bloomberg
03-28

AppLovin Corp. shares tumbled 20% Thursday, a record one-day drop, after Muddy Waters issued a short report against the company.

It’s at least the third report from a short seller in about a month. In February, Fuzzy Panda and Culper Research both published short reports against the company, which provides marketing services to app developers, sending shares lower. Those reports came just days after The Bear Cave issued its own cautious piece against AppLovin shares.

AppLovin was one of the top-performing technology stocks in 2024, gaining more than 700% in a meteoric rise driven by the artificial intelligence frenzy. The stock was added to the Nasdaq 100 Index in November, further boosting gains and pushing it to a market valuation of more than $110 billion at the end of the year.

So far this year, the stock is down 19% through Thursday’s close. AppLovin did not immediately respond to a Bloomberg News request for comment.

Muddy Waters’ report alleges that AppLovin is misappropriating data and violating platforms’ terms of service, among other things. Earlier reports from Fuzzy Panda, Culper and Bear Cave alleged that AppLovin misrepresents the benefits of its AI platform and forces app installations as a way to drive up revenue.

The company previously responded to the February reports, saying that they were full of “inaccuracies and false assertions.”

“It’s disappointing that a few nefarious short-sellers are making false and misleading claims aimed at undermining our success, and driving down our stock price for their own financial gain, rather than acknowledging the sophisticated AI models our team has built to enhance advertising for our partners,” AppLovin’s Chief Executive Officer, Adam Foroughi, wrote in a Feb. 26 blog post.

Muddy Waters, Carson Block’s firm, is among some of the most-feared short sellers on the Street. Block’s rise to fame came after he uncovered fraud at some Chinese companies; he’s still a longtime China skeptic and recently said that he wouldn’t invest in its stocks despite its current market rally. In addition, Block also recently said that he still wouldn’t bet against Tesla Inc., even given the stock’s recent drop, due to Elon Musk’s history of pulling “rabbits out of the hat.”

Even with the multiple short reports, Wall Street is still largely bullish on shares of AppLovin. The company boasts 21 buy ratings, six holds and only one sell, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Many analysts, including those at Wedbush, Benchmark, Citi Research, Bank of America and William Blair defended AppLovin after the February short-seller inflicted rout, even calling the stock price decline a buying opportunity.

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