This comparison pits AppLovin (APP), a software provider that helps mobile apps grow and monetize, against Pinterest (PINS), a visual discovery and shopping platform. AppLovin's FY 2025 revenue was nearly $5.5 billion, up 70%, with net income of about $3.3 billion and a 60.8% net margin; its risks include limits on data from Apple and Alphabet, securities class actions and a legal challenge over inappropriate ads reaching children. Pinterest's FY 2025 revenue reached about $4.2 billion, up 15.8%, with net income of $416.9 million and a 9.9% net margin; its risks include dependence on user engagement, search algorithm changes and reliance on Amazon for cloud infrastructure. Pinterest has the lower P/S ratio, while AppLovin trades at a higher forward P/E. The author favors AppLovin for Q2 2026 revenue growth above 50%, despite a slight revenue miss and a sharp stock drop after the report, and views Pinterest as a long-term story with 18% Q2 revenue growth.
Summary written by Upside AI from the original article. Read the source for full details.
Read the original on Yahoo Finance ↗
Keywords
AppLovinPinterestadvertisingvaluation
Open a keyword to see other news on the same topic.
Related news
- Pinterest Just Gained 20% in a Month: Take Profits, or Buy More?
Pinterest (PINS) shares rose 20% over the past month through Monday's close, outpacing the S&P 500's 0.6% gain and Snap's 13%. The stock fell in September after CEO Bill Ready warned about pressure in the international business, but it bottomed just above the roughly $18.17 average price of its buybacks and rallied in October. On Oct. 5, Pinterest named James Dibbo CFO, effective Oct. 26; he previously ran finance for Amazon Ads and Prime Video. At a forward P/E of 10.3x versus a five-year average of 24x, the author sees room for the multiple to rise if US and Canada growth stays near 18%, but warns that a miss on third-quarter revenue guidance of $1.19 billion to $1.21 billion could send the stock back toward the $18 buyback price.
- Are You Overpaying For AppLovin Stock Versus Its Rivals?
AppLovin shares have fallen more than half over the past year and trade at 20.0 times earnings, below Meta Platforms and Magnite. Over the latest four fiscal quarters, the company posted 60.6% revenue growth and kept 77.4% of revenue as operating profit, compared with 8.3% and 15.6% for Magnite. Revenue growth has slowed each quarter, from 68.2% in fiscal Q3 2025 to 52.8% in fiscal Q2 2026, and management guided for 46% to 48% growth in fiscal Q3 2026. The growth is driven by improved ad models that AppLovin is now selling to advertisers outside gaming, including through its Ads Manager platform. The article concludes that investors are not overpaying for AppLovin and says the fiscal Q3 2026 revenue report will be the key measure to watch.
- What Does AppLovin Offer That Omnicom Does Not?
Omnicom sells agency work across media, advertising and PR, while AppLovin runs its own ad platform, mostly for games. Over the past year AppLovin stock fell 52% while Omnicom returned 6.9%, even though AppLovin grew revenue faster, and Omnicom raised its 2026 organic growth forecast after 6.1% organic growth in the second quarter. AppLovin's second-quarter profit measure came in just below its forecast range, which management attributed to timing, and it expects third-quarter 2026 revenue to rise 46% to 48%, its first forecast for the quarter rather than a raise. Omnicom carries debt equal to 52% of its market value versus 3.8% for AppLovin, and AppLovin trades at 20.7 times trailing earnings versus 56.3 for Omnicom, with an operating margin of 77% against Omnicom's 5.3%. The article calls AppLovin's November 4, 2026 report, especially its third-quarter revenue against its August forecast, the key metric to watch.
- Pinterest Stock Is Down 18% This Year. Buy, Sell or Hold?
Pinterest (PINS) stock is down 17.5% this year, closing at $21.91 on October 16, but has rallied 19.9% from its September 9 closing low of $18.28. Holds now lead analyst ratings with 19, versus 17 Buys and 2 Outperforms, and the $29.05 mean price target has been unchanged since September 30. Q2 revenue rose 18% to $1.18 billion, but the Q3 guide of $1.19 billion to $1.21 billion implies 13% to 15% growth. Pinterest also named James Dibbo, who ran finance for Amazon's ads and Prime Video businesses, as CFO starting October 26. The article presents a bull case, citing 18% U.S. and Canada revenue growth and an adjusted EBITDA margin outlook of about 30%, and a bear case, pointing to slower Q3 growth and Hold-heavy ratings.
- META Stock In Focus: Morningstar Sees 22% Upside As Meta Muse AI Adoption Boosts Confidence Along With Ad Growth
Morningstar kept an $850 fair value estimate for Meta, implying 22% upside from the last close, after third-quarter revenue of $64.6 billion rose 26% year on year. Strong ad growth and early uptake of the Muse AI agent, which has reached 10 million users since launch, boosted confidence in Meta's AI strategy, though rising infrastructure spending pushed the adjusted operating margin down five percentage points to 35%. Management expects next-quarter revenue to grow between 21% and 27%. Analyst Malik Ahmed Khan said Muse could add income through enterprise AI products, leasing spare computing capacity and fees on agent-led purchases, though long-term contributions remain uncertain. He also warned that heavy AI and Reality Labs spending may not pay off and flagged legal and regulatory risks.
- Netflix Stock Is on Track for Its Worst Year Since 2022. Is It Finally a Buy?
Netflix shares closed near $69 on October 20, down about 27% in 2026, and fell about 6% after hours to around $65 following third-quarter results. Revenue rose 12% year over year to $12.9 billion, operating income climbed 37%, and EPS grew 49% to $0.87. The company repurchased $4.8 billion of its shares in the quarter, and free cash flow rose about 8% to $2.9 billion. Revenue growth is still slowing, with fourth-quarter revenue guidance of about $13.4 billion, up 12%, and 2026 ad revenue now expected at around $2.7 billion, down from about $3 billion because some ad features are rolling out more slowly. With a P/E of around 17 to 18 versus about 19 for the S&P 500, the author argues the stock is worth considering and suggests building a position gradually.
Related markets
Latest news
- Bank Profits Surge
The 9-month 2026 results show many banks continued to grow profits, with some posting record quarterly earnings. VPBank's pre-tax profit reached nearly VND 30,000 billion, up nearly 47%, equal to its full-year 2025 result and about 72.4% of its 2026 plan; Q3 pre-tax profit topped VND 11,000 billion. Techcombank posted VND 28,900 billion (up 23.7%), while LPBank reported VND 10,421 billion (up nearly 9%). SSI forecasts pre-tax profit of its monitored banks to rise 19.5% in 2026 before slowing to 15.4% in 2027, pressured by narrowing net interest margins and rising credit risk provisions. It also expects system-wide credit growth of 16-17% in 2027 and 17.9% for the monitored banks.
- World's Largest Gold Fund Dumps Over 10 Tonnes of Gold as Prices Slide
SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold fund, continued net selling of nearly 12 tonnes of gold in the 22/10 session, bringing total sales over 2 sessions to nearly 15 tonnes and cutting its holdings to about 1,046 tonnes. Spot gold fell more than 2.8% to around USD 4,025 per ounce at the close of 22/10, and briefly dipped below USD 4,000 per ounce in the morning session of 23/10. Tensions in the Middle East pushed crude oil prices higher, raising concerns about inflation and further Fed tightening, and gold has still not attracted sustained safe-haven demand even as US Treasury yields fell. US September CPI rose 0.6% month on month and 3.7% year on year, while PPI rose 1.3% and 6.3%. Markets price about an 84% chance the Fed holds rates steady at its 27-28/10 meeting and a 16% chance of a 25 basis-point increase; September PCE data due on 29/10 is the next key factor to watch.
- Gold Prices Continue to Fall
On the morning of 23/10, domestic gold prices kept falling, with SJC bar prices varying by seller and the premium over world gold widening. Công ty TNHH Vàng bạc đá quý Sài Gòn listed SJC bars at VND 139-142 million per tael (buy-sell), down VND 300,000; Phú Quý was at VND 138-141.8 million, down VND 500,000; and Mi Hồng at VND 140-141.5 million, down VND 800,000. Gold rings also fell by varying amounts, with DOJI at VND 138-142 million and Phú Quý at VND 138-141 million per tael. World gold dropped USD 129 to around USD 3,992 per ounce, equal to about VND 125.3 million per tael, leaving SJC bars about VND 16.7 million per tael above the world price. The State Bank's central rate was set at 25,627 VND/USD, down 5 dong, while Vietcombank quoted 25,660-26,040 VND/USD (buy-sell).
- Company Linked to Billionaire Pham Nhat Vuong Announces Major Good News
VEFAC (ticker VEF), a Vingroup subsidiary, posted Q3 net revenue of nearly VND 77 billion, up 67% year on year, but a gross loss of about VND 27 billion as cost of sales from its exhibition business exceeded revenue. Q3 profit rose mainly thanks to a gross gain of about VND 65 billion from transferring some schools in a project to a partner, while financial income reached over VND 388 billion, mostly from loan and investment income. For the first nine months of 2026, after-tax profit was nearly VND 865 billion, down about 94% from VND 15,418 billion in the same period of 2025, as the prior year included large gains from transferring part of the Vinhomes Global Gate project. As of 30/9/2026, total assets stood at over VND 31,905 billion, up 36% from the start of the year, while total liabilities exceeded VND 24,364 billion, with short-term customer advances rising from VND 411 billion to over VND 8,373 billion.
- Lotte and Phat Dat Officially Break Ground on VND 60,000 Billion Mega Project in Thu Thiem 'Golden Land'
A joint venture between Lotte Group (South Korea) and Phát Đạt (HoSE: PDR) officially broke ground on 23/10 on Lotte Eco Smart City Thu Thiem in the Thu Thiem New Urban Area, HCMC, with total investment of about VND 60,000 billion. The project covers nearly 7.5 ha and will combine Grade A offices, retail, services, accommodation and housing, adjoining the central plaza and central lake of Thu Thiem. Phát Đạt holds 35% of Lotte Properties HCMC, the project developer, and will develop the housing blocks along with two towers (2-1 and 2-3) with about 219,722 m2 of floor area, while Lotte handles block 2-5. Lotte Properties HCMC paid VND 17,569 billion in land-use fees on 31/7/2026, and Phát Đạt completed its VND 7,666 billion payment to take its 35% stake. MB is funding all of Phát Đạt's capital contribution, while VietinBank and BIDV also support the project.
- International Business : Global stocks nosedive as Meta dents AI optimism
Global stocks retreated as tech earnings failed to ease concerns about the AI outlook, with MSCI's All-World index set for its largest daily fall in two weeks, down 0.4 per cent. Meta beat third-quarter revenue expectations, but its plan to issue non-voting stock revived worries about its mounting capital commitments, and a New Mexico judge ordered it to pay a $25 billion penalty in a data privacy case. Brent crude rose nearly 3% to $112 a barrel, near a five-month high, after more Houthi attacks in Saudi Arabia raised supply risks. Investors moved into government bonds, pushing the US 10-year yield down to 5.05%, below France's for the first time in 13 years, while French yields have climbed above 5% amid concerns over social unrest and debt. The France-Germany 10-year spread reached 177.7 basis points, its widest since 2011, while gold fell 1.8% to $4,070 an ounce.
Get the briefing on Telegram or Zalo
Join the Upside Telegram channel or Zalo group for the Vietnam stocks and gold briefing at 8:00 and 19:00 (Vietnam time) on trading days, plus a weekly wrap on Saturday morning.