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In this photo illustration, an AppLovin logo is displayed on...
AppLovin logo displayed on the screen of an iPad (Sheldon Cooper/Getty Images)
Not Lovin’ It

Short sellers’ reports sink AppLovin

The stock has erased its 2025 gains.

Luke Kawa

AppLovin is sinking in early trading on Wednesday after short-selling firms Fuzzy Panda Research and Culper Research announced short positions in the stock, alleging that its AI ad-tech breakthroughs are a farce.

The short-selling firms teamed up to investigate the company and published separate reports on their findings.

Culper summarizes its short thesis in two bullets:

  • The company’s mobile gaming results are being juiced by “the systematic exploitation of app permissions that enable advertisements themselves to force-feed silent, backdoor app installations onto users’ phones... each illicit install translates directly to profit.”

  • The company is gaming Meta’s advertising platform in a way that allows it to “take credit for the sale” and claim better results on its ad campaigns.

Fuzzy Panda’s report also alleges that AppLovin is “stealing data from Meta in their e-commerce push” and that “Apple, Google, and Meta all have a vested interest in putting a stop to it.”

AppLovin is one of the many companies felled by the rout in momentum stocks. Shares had rocketed higher after reporting earnings earlier this month, but with today’s losses they’ve given back all of that advance as well as all their 2025 gains.

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SpaceX gets a wave of bullish ratings from Wall Street analysts

SpaceX received more than a dozen positive analyst calls on Tuesday — including from major Wall Street banks — as they initiate coverage on Elon Musk’s space and AI company.

SpaceX went public on June 12 at a $2.2 trillion valuation, the largest debut in history. While the company hasn’t yet posted a profit, it seems to have convinced Wall Street that it will get there and grow its valuation on the way.

Of the at least 17 analysts that gave a rating on Tuesday, all but one gave it a “buy” or “outperform” rating. MoffettNathanson was "neutral."

The ratings come as SpaceX joined the Nasdaq 100 index, a benchmark tech-heavy basket of companies that underpins millions of portfolios. The inclusion adds built-in demand for the stock from index funds and ETFs.

Still, SpaceX fell more than 5% on Tuesday amid a broader sell-off, and is currently effectively flat from its opening price of $150 a share.

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Nike sinks to lowest level since 2014 after warning of “challenged” sales environment in Q4 report

Did Nike do it?

Investors had a mixed reaction after the global sports apparel company reported its fourth quarter earnings on Tuesday after the bell. Shares initially rose 5% as Nike beat out Wall Street expectations amid a hefty tariff refund bonus. However, the stock then sank to its lowest level since August 2014 in postmarket trading.

Here are the Q4 numbers:

  • Revenue of $11.0 billion (estimate: $10.8 billion).

  • Adjusted earnings per share of $0.20 (estimate: $0.12).

Ahead of this report, Nike warned that results would be flattered by a one-time tariff refund (now estimated at roughly $0.52 per share for the bottom line). That gave the company an extra cushion in snapping its streak of seven quarters of year-over-year profit declines.

Over the past year, the company had been punished by tariffs on imported goods, stagnant consumer spending, and increasing competition from other footwear brands like New Balance, Adidas, and Hoka.

Outgoing CFO Matthew Friend deemed it an “increasingly challenging operating environment, where sell-through remains challenged.”

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