Markets
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Luke Kawa

AppLovin enjoys wave of price target hikes after posting better than expected quarterly results

AppLovin is rising in premarket trading, after the ad tech company yesterday reported top- and bottom-line results that modestly exceeded expectations and posted guidance for the current quarter that struck a similar chord.

Wall Street is reveling in the results with a boatload of price target hikes: UBS to $840 from $810, Piper Sandler to $800 from $740, Wedbush also to $800 from $745, Scotiabank to $750 from $575, Goldman Sachs to $720 from $630, BTIG to $705 from $693, and JPMorgan to $650 from $425.

The Q3 numbers:

  • Revenue: $1.41 billion (compared to an analyst consensus estimate of $1.34 billion and guidance for $1.33 billion)

  • Adjusted EBITDA: $1.16 billion (estimate: $1.09 billion, guidance: $1.08 billion)

Q4 guidance:

  • Revenue: $1.585 billion (estimate: $1.54 billion)

  • Adjusted EBITDA: $1.315 billion (estimate: $1.27 billion)

Shares are up more than 2% as of 9:45 a.m. ET.

After its Q2 report, CEO Adam Foroughi said that the real “fun” starts this quarter, as the company began to open its self-service ad portal on a referral basis on October 1. Bank of America analyst Omar Dessouky is especially bullish on this channel, expecting the company to book 4,000 large advertisers after the portal becomes fully available for onboards in the first half of 2026.

However, Q4 has not been fun for the ad tech company thus far. Shares are down about 15% since the end of September, with the bulk of the decline catalyzed by a report that the SEC is investigating its data collection practices, which was followed by another report indicating that multiple state regulators are also looking into the same matter.

“Legal risk lingers: AppLovin has denied short-seller claims about its Array product, which was later shut down amid possible probes by the SEC and some US state regulators,” Bloomberg Intelligence technology analyst Nathan Naidu wrote ahead of this report. “A related class-action suit filed in March could cost up to $750 million if it proceeds to trial.”

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Luke Kawa

Plug Power wins shareholder approval to boost its share count, avoiding reverse split and paving the way for more dilution

After the close on Thursday, Plug Power revealed that it received sufficient shareholder support to increase its share count.

This approval paves the way for the hydrogen fuel cell company to raise more money via share offerings, something it’s announced 20 times since its IPO, according to data from Bloomberg.

Management had urged shareholders to vote in favor of this proposal. It’s a sign of how important retail investors are to Plug that CEO Andy Marsh even hosted an AMA on Reddit to build support among the community.

If this measure had failed to get a “yes” vote from the majority of shareholders, Plug warned that it would have been forced to proceed with a reverse stock split (which would have raised the per-share price) in order to issue more shares.

“Without additional authorized shares, the Company will not be able to: meet its contractual obligations to increase authorized shares of common stock by February 28, 2026; raise capital necessary for operations and growth; and execute on its business plans and strategy,” the company said in a November filing.

Plug is aiming to capitalize on the data center-driven bid for power by offering auxiliary solutions.

markets
Millie Giles

Pinterest plummets on disappointing Q1 sales forecast, as retailers pull back on ad spending

Shares of social media platform Pinterest are down around 20% in premarket trading on Friday, following fourth quarter earnings after the bell on Thursday that fell short of expectations.

While revenue grew 14% to $1.32 billion in Q4, broadly in line with forecasts of $1.33 billion, the company reported earnings per share of 67 cents, below the 69 cents projected. Pinterest forecast sales in Q1 2026 to fall between $951 million and $971 million, missing average analyst estimates of $980 million.

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Pinterest forecasts downbeat revenue as it battles for digital ad dollars; shares plunge

Pinterest forecasts downbeat revenue as it battles for digital ad dollars; shares plunge
markets
Nate Becker

DraftKings drops after issuing downbeat 2026 sales, profit forecasts

DraftKings plunged after the sports betting company gave downbeat guidance for the current year.

Shares were down 15% in recent after-hours trading.

It forecast: 

  • Revenue between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $7.29 billion, according to FactSet. 

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million, compared with estimates of $981 million.

For the fourth quarter, DraftKings posted: 

  • Revenue of $1.99 billion, in line with Wall Street’s $1.99 billion expectation 

  • Earnings per share of $0.25, compared with a consensus estimate of $0.09. 

DraftKings Reports Fourth Quarter Revenue Growth of 43% | DraftKings Inc.

DraftKings Reports Fourth Quarter Revenue Growth of 43% | DraftKings Inc.

It forecast: 

  • Revenue between $6.5 billion and $6.9 billion, compared with analysts’ estimates of $7.29 billion, according to FactSet. 

  • Adjusted EBITDA of $700 million to $900 million, compared with estimates of $981 million.

For the fourth quarter, DraftKings posted: 

  • Revenue of $1.99 billion, in line with Wall Street’s $1.99 billion expectation 

  • Earnings per share of $0.25, compared with a consensus estimate of $0.09. 

markets
Max Knoblauch

Rivian climbs after posting better-than-expected Q4 results; sees R2 SUV hitting the market in Q2

EV maker Rivian reported its fourth-quarter and full-year earnings results after markets closed on Thursday. Its shares climbed 13% in after-hours trading.

In the fourth quarter, which coincided with the end of federal EV tax credits in the US, Rivian booked $1.29 billion in revenue, down 26% year over year but above analysts’ expectations of $1.26 billion. The company posted an adjusted loss of $0.54 per share in Q4, compared to the expected loss of $0.68 per share.

Rivian forecast full-year adjusted losses in the range of $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion, compared to the $1.75 billion loss expected by Wall Street.

2026 is set to be a big year for the company, with its upcoming $45,000 R2 SUV planned to begin deliveries in the second quarter. Rivian issued full-year delivery guidance of between 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles, compared to Wall Street’s expectations of 65,700. Analysts polled by FactSet expect 14,700 of those 2026 deliveries to be R2s. Last year, Rivian delivered 42,247 vehicles.

“It’s incredibly exciting to see the early strong reviews of the R2 pre-production builds, and we can’t wait to get them to our customers next quarter,” CEO RJ Scaringe said.

markets
Matt Phillips

Arista Networks soars as it beats on Q4 EPS and revenue, gives upbeat sales guidance

Arista Networks, which sells equipment and software used to run and monitor data center networks, reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings and sales after the close of trading on Thursday.

Arista shares were up about 9% in the after-hours session.

Here’s what the switch and router maker reported:

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.82 vs. Wall Street expectations for $0.76, according to FactSet.

  • Sales of $2.49 billion vs. an expected $2.38 billion, per FactSet data.

  • A non-GAAP Q4 gross margin, a measure of how profitable a company’s core products are to produce, of 63.4% vs. previous guidance of 62% to 63%.

  • Guidance for Q1 sales of approximately $2.6 billion vs. the $2.46 billion expected on Wall Street.

  • Guidance for a Q1 non-GAAP gross margin of between 62% and 63% vs. the 63% FactSet forecast.

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