10 Best Upside Stocks To Buy Right Now

4. Applovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP)

Upside Potential as of March 10: 105.19%

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 95

Applovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP) provides a software platform for advertisers and app developers to optimize marketing and monetization. Through its integrated suite of tools, which include AppDiscovery, MAX, Adjust, and Wurl, it connects advertisers with audiences across mobile and connected TV.

On February 28, the company received a strong endorsement from Benchmark Co. analyst Mike Hickey. He reaffirmed a Buy rating and a $525 price target and countered the recent short seller reports that accused Applovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP) of exaggerating its AI advertising benefits. Hickey emphasized the company’s solid business model, open and honest operations, and adherence to industry rules and financial standards to dismiss the short seller claims as baseless.

The company’s AXON algorithm, which is a core component of its AI-powered advertising platform, is ongoing self-learning and engineering enhancements for growth. The Software Platform, which will be renamed “Advertising” in future reports, generated $835 million in revenue, which represents a 66% year-over-year increase. Applovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP) is expanding its AI advertising capabilities beyond mobile gaming, with a successful e-commerce pilot. Early data shows advertisers seeing substantial returns. The company plans to scale this segment in 2025 by reallocating resources and launching a self-service platform to reach more advertisers.

ClearBridge Mid Cap Strategy is bullish on Applovin Corp. (NASDAQ:APP) due to its leading mobile advertising platform, AI-driven growth potential, and strong free cash flow generation. It stated the following regarding the company in its Q4 2024 investor letter:

“Stock selection in IT was the greatest contributor to performance on strength in AppLovin Corporation (NASDAQ:APP) and Marvell. AppLovin is the world’s leading mobile game and app advertising platform, providing software for marketing and monetization, powered by its proprietary AI targeting engine Axon. We see opportunity for AppLovin to continue to expand and grow its share of the market for mobile app marketing at a time when mobile gaming ad spend is recovering from a higher-rate-driven trough. We also see the potential for the company to expand its addressable market to include e-commerce advertising, around which initial forays have been encouraging. With strong incremental margins and management keeping expenses controlled, the company should be able to drive significant free cash flow growth as revenue continues to scale.”