AppLovin Corp (APP)

ITEM 2. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations should be read in conjunction with our condensed consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. This discussion contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include those identified below and those discussed in the section titled “Risk Factors” and other parts of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Our historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any period in the future.

Overview

Our mission is to create meaningful connections between companies and their ideal customers. We provide end-to-end AI-powered advertising solutions for businesses to reach, monetize, and grow their global audience. Our scaled business model is intricately linked to the advertising ecosystem, providing a durable competitive advantage. We generate revenue when our advertisers achieve their return on advertising spend targets with our advertising solutions, ensuring that their success directly fuels our growth.

Since our founding in 2011, we have been focused on building advertising solutions for advertisers to improve the marketing and monetization of their content. Our founders, who were mobile app developers themselves, quickly realized the real impediment to success and growth in the advertising ecosystem was a discovery and monetization problem—breaking through the congested app stores to efficiently find users and successfully grow their business. Their first-hand experience with these challenges led to the development of our infrastructure and advertising solutions.

Our Business Model

We primarily generate revenue from fees paid by advertisers who use our advertising solutions to grow and monetize their content. We are able to grow our revenue by improving our various technologies, including improvements to our Axon AI recommendation system.

Advertising clients include a wide variety of advertisers, from indie developer studios to some of the largest global internet platforms, such as Meta and Google. We see multiple opportunities to gain new clients, and to increase spend from existing clients, as we help them grow their businesses and make them more successful.

Our advertising solutions include AppLovin Ads, MAX, Adjust, and Wurl. Clients use AppLovin Ads to automate, optimize, and manage customer acquisition. They set marketing and transaction goals, and AppLovin Ads maximizes advertising spend at their return on advertising spend targets and other marketing objectives. AppLovin Ads comprises the vast majority of revenue. Revenue represents the dynamically-priced amount charged to advertisers based on their campaign goals, less consideration paid or payable to publishers.

Publishers use MAX to optimize the sale of their app advertising inventory to demand-side platforms and ad networks. The MAX tool provides insights to manage against key performance indicators, understand the long-term value of users, and help manage profitability. Revenue from MAX is generated based on a percentage of winning auction spend. As demand-side platforms continue to improve their recommendation systems and more apps adopt in-app advertising, we expect growth in the adoption of, and revenue from, MAX.

Advertising clients use Adjust's measurement and analytics marketing platform to better understand their users' journey while allowing marketers to make smarter decisions through measurement, attribution and fraud prevention. Revenue from Adjust is primarily generated from an annual software subscription fee.

Advertising clients use Wurl's connected TV ("CTV") platform to distribute streaming video and maximize revenue. Revenue from Wurl is primarily generated from content companies and streamers typically on a usage-based and/or CPM model.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA for a particular period as net income adjusted for loss (income) from discontinued operations, net of income taxes, interest expense, other (income) expense, net (excluding certain recurring items), provision for income taxes, amortization, depreciation and write-offs and as further adjusted for stock-based compensation, transaction-related expense, restructuring costs, and non-operating foreign exchange gain, as we

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believe these items are not reflective of our core operating performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue for the same period.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are key measures we use to assess our financial performance and are also used for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are helpful to investors, analysts, and other interested parties because they can assist in providing a more consistent and comparable overview of our operations across our historical financial periods. In addition, these measures are frequently used by analysts, investors, and other interested parties to evaluate and assess performance. We use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures and are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered as alternatives or substitutes to financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures have certain limitations in that they do not include the impact of certain expenses that are reflected in our consolidated statement of operations that are necessary to run our business. Our definitions may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish these or similar metrics. Thus, our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin should be considered in addition to, not as substitutes for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin for the three and six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, and a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA:

1 Excludes recurring operational foreign exchange gains and losses.

Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and principal payment of finance leases. We use Free Cash Flow to help manage the health of our business, prepare budgets and for capital allocation purposes. We believe Free Cash Flow provides useful supplemental information to help investors understand underlying trends in our business and our liquidity. Free Cash Flow also reflects cash flows from both continuing and discontinued operations. Our definition may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish Free Cash Flow or similar metrics. Thus, our Free Cash Flow should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

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The following table provides our Free Cash Flow for the six months ended June 30, 2026 and 2025, and a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow:

Factors Affecting Our Performance

We believe that the future success of our business depends on many factors, including the factors described below.

Continue to invest in innovation

We have made, and intend to continue to make, significant investments in our advertising solutions to enhance their effectiveness and value proposition for our clients. We expect to continue to invest in our technology and to incur related costs, including costs to attract and retain critical engineering talent, such as stock-based compensation, as well as datacenter costs as we continue to launch enhancements to our Axon AI recommendation system. We believe investments in our technology will further improve effectiveness for advertisers. Our investments will also allow us to continue to enter into and expand into new verticals outside of gaming, such as e-commerce and CTV. We also continue to opportunistically explore strategic transactions related to our advertising solutions and the expansion of the markets we serve.

Attract and retain clients

We rely on existing clients for a significant portion of our revenue. As we improve our advertising solutions, we can attract additional spend from these clients. Our clients include indie studio developers and some of the largest advertising platforms in the world. We believe there is significant room for us to further expand our relationships with existing clients and increase their usage of our advertising solutions, as well as to onboard new clients. We expect to continue to invest in sales and marketing to drive new client acquisition.

Changes to the mobile app and advertising ecosystems

Our business and results of operations are and will continue to be impacted by industry factors that drive the overall performance and growth of the mobile app and advertising ecosystems. Mobile app developers rely on third-party platforms, such as the Apple App Store and Google Play Store, among others, to distribute apps, collect payments made for in-app purchases, and targ

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Overview

Our mission is to create meaningful connections between companies and their ideal customers. We provide end-to-end AI-powered advertising solutions for businesses to reach, monetize and grow their global audience. Our scaled business model is intricately linked to the advertising ecosystem, providing a durable competitive advantage. We generate revenue when our advertisers achieve their return on advertising spend targets with our advertising solutions, ensuring that their success directly fuels our growth.

Since our founding in 2011, we have been focused on building advertising solutions for advertisers to improve the marketing and monetization of their content. Our founders, who were mobile app developers themselves, quickly realized the real impediment to success and growth in the advertising ecosystem was a discovery and monetization problem—breaking through the congested app stores to efficiently find users and successfully grow their business. Their first-hand experience with these challenges led to the development of our infrastructure and advertising solutions.

Recent Developments

On May 7, 2025, we, along with our subsidiaries Morocco, Inc. and AppLovin GmbH (collectively, the “Sellers”) entered into a Purchase Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Tripledot and its subsidiaries Eton Games Inc. ("Eton") and Tripledot Group Holdings Limited (collectively, with Tripledot, the “Purchasers”) relating to the sale of our Apps business. On June 30, 2025, we and Tripledot entered into an amendment to the Agreement to provide, among other things, that in lieu of the issuance of a secured promissory note by Eton to us or our designated affiliate to fund a portion of the full Cash Consideration (as defined in the Agreement), Tripledot may elect to pay such amount in cash.

On June 30, 2025, we consummated the sale of the Apps business to the Purchasers for $400 million in cash, subject to closing adjustments, and equity consideration representing approximately 20% of Tripledot’s fully-diluted equity at the time of closing. No promissory note was issued as part of the transaction. Following the sale of the Apps business, we operate as a single operating and reportable segment. Results related to our Apps business are presented as discontinued operations in our consolidated financial statements. See Note 2—Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 3 – Discontinued Operations of the Notes to consolidated financial statements in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our Business Model

We primarily generate revenue from fees paid by advertisers who use our advertising solutions to grow and monetize their content. We are able to grow our revenue by improving our various technologies, including improvements to our Axon AI recommendation engine.

Advertising clients include a wide variety of advertisers, from indie developer studios to some of the largest global internet platforms, such as Meta and Google. We see multiple opportunities to gain new clients, and to increase spend from existing clients, as we help them grow their businesses and make them more successful.

Our advertising solutions include Axon Ads Manager, MAX, Adjust, and Wurl. Clients use Axon Ads Manager to automate, optimize, and manage their user acquisition investments. They set marketing and user growth goals, and Axon Ads Manager optimizes their ad spend in an effort to achieve their return on advertising spend targets and other marketing objectives. Axon Ads Manager comprises the vast majority of revenue. The revenue we generate from Axon Ads Manager is determined dynamically based on advertisers’ campaign goals.

Advertising networks use MAX to optimize purchases of app advertising inventory. The MAX tool provides insights to manage against key performance indicators, understand the long-term value of users, and help manage profitability. Revenue from MAX is generated based on a percentage of client spend. As more advertising networks move to in-app real-time bidding, we expect growth in the adoption of, and revenue from, MAX.

Advertising clients use Adjust's measurement and analytics marketing platform to better understand their users' journey while allowing marketers to make smarter decisions through measurement, attribution and fraud prevention. Revenue from Adjust is primarily generated from an annual software subscription fee.

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Advertising clients use Wurl's CTV platform to distribute streaming video, maximize revenue, and acquire and retain viewers or subscribers. Revenue from Wurl is primarily generated from content companies, streamers, and advertisers, typically on a usage-based and/or CPM model.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA Margin

We define Adjusted EBITDA for a particular period as net income adjusted for loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes, interest expense and loss on settlement of debt, other income, net (excluding certain recurring items), provision for income taxes, amortization, depreciation and write-offs and as further adjusted for stock-based compensation, transaction-related expense, restructuring costs, and non-operating foreign exchange (gain) loss, as well as certain other items that we believe are not reflective of our core operating performance. We define Adjusted EBITDA margin as Adjusted EBITDA divided by revenue for the same period.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are key measures we use to assess our financial performance and are also used for internal planning and forecasting purposes. We believe Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are helpful to investors, analysts, and other interested parties because they can assist in providing a more consistent and comparable overview of our operations across our historical financial periods. In addition, these measures are frequently used by analysts, investors, and other interested parties to evaluate and assess performance. We use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin in conjunction with GAAP measures as part of our overall assessment of our performance, including the preparation of our annual operating budget and quarterly forecasts, to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, and to communicate with our board of directors concerning our financial performance.

Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin are non-GAAP financial measures and are presented for supplemental informational purposes only and should not be considered as alternatives or substitutes to financial information presented in accordance with GAAP. These measures have certain limitations in that they do not include the impact of certain expenses that are reflected in our consolidated statement of operations that are necessary to run our business. Our definitions may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish these or similar metrics. Thus, our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin should be considered in addition to, not as substitutes for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides our Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA margin for 2025, 2024, and 2023, and a reconciliation of net income to Adjusted EBITDA:

1 Excludes recurring operational foreign exchange gains and losses.

Free Cash Flow

We define Free Cash Flow as net cash provided by operating activities less purchases of property and equipment and principal payment of finance leases. We use Free Cash Flow to help manage the health of our business, prepare budgets and for capital allocation purposes. We believe Free Cash Flow provides useful supplemental information to help investors understand

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underlying trends in our business and our liquidity. Free Cash Flow also reflects cash flows from both continuing and discontinued operations. Our definition may differ from the definitions used by other companies and therefore comparability may be limited. In addition, other companies may not publish Free Cash Flow or similar metrics. Thus, our Free Cash Flow should be considered in addition to, not as a substitute for, or in isolation from, measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following table provides our Free Cash Flow for 2025, 2024, and 2023, and a reconciliation of net cash provided by operating activities to Free Cash Flow:

Factors Affecting Our Performance

We believe that the future success of our business depends on many factors, including the factors described below.

Continue to invest in innovation

We have made, and intend to continue to make, significant investments in our advertising solutions to enhance their effectiveness and value proposition for our clients. We expect to continue to invest in our technology and solutions and to incur related costs, including costs to attract and retain critical engineering talent, such as stock-based compensation, as well as datacenter costs as we continue to launch enhancements to our Axon AI recommendation engine. We believe investments in our technology will further improve effectiveness for advertisers. Our investments will also allow us to continue to enter into and expand into new verticals outside of gaming, such as e-commerce and CTV. We also continue to opportunistically explore strategic transactions related to our advertising solutions and the expansion of the markets we serve.

Attract and retain clients

We rely on existing clients for a significant portion of our revenue. As we improve our advertising solutions, we can attract additional spend from these clients. Our clients include indie studio developers and some of the largest advertising platforms in the world. We believe there is significant room for us to further expand our relationships with existing clients and increase their usage of our advertising solutions, as well as to onboard new clients both inside and outside of

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