By Emily Bary
A report says the SEC is probing the app-monetization company’s practices. AppLovin says it regularly engages with regulators and would disclose updates if any were material.
AppLovin was the subject of short-seller reports earlier this year, but its stock staged a big comeback.
AppLovin Corp.’s stock has been hot this year, but a new report suggests the company has caught the attention of regulators, and that’s causing some pressure.
Bloomberg News reported toward the end of Monday’s session that the company has been the subject of a Securities and Exchange Commission probe looking into its data-collection activities.
Shares of AppLovin (APP), which makes app-monetization technology, fell 14% in Monday’s regular session and were off another 2.3% in the extended session.
“Generally, we do not comment on the existence or non-existence of any potential regulatory matters,” an AppLovin spokesperson told MarketWatch. “That said, as a global public company, we regularly engage with regulators and if we get inquiries we address them in the ordinary course. Material developments, if any, would be disclosed through the appropriate public channels.”
The Bloomberg story said that AppLovin has yet to be charged with wrongdoing and probes don’t necessarily lead to enforcement actions.
This isn’t the first time that AppLovin shares have slid on fears about the company’s data practices. Back in February, two short sellers raised issues about AppLovin’s business, including by alleging that the company force-fed app installations onto peoples’ phones and that the company copied data from Meta Platforms Inc. (META) while building its e-commerce businesses.
At the time, Chief Executive Adam Foroughi said in a blog post that it was “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 stock fell 12% that day, part of an eight-session slide that saw it fall 37%.
Nonetheless, AppLovin’s stock has been a hot performer this year, rising 81% over the course of 2025 through Monday’s close. That’s enough to rank it the 12th-best performer in the S&P 500 on a year-to-date basis, though that takes into account the full 2025 performance, while AppLovin only joined the index last month.
-Emily Bary
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10-06-25 2039ET
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