Mobile app technology company AppLovin made its Nasdaq debut on Thursday starting with an estimated market cap of about $24 billion. President and CFO Herald Chen said the company will use the funds to continue the growth of the business.
AppLovin provides application developers the opportunity to promote, monetize, and publish games in the Apple and Google Play stores.
"The hardest part, though, is to get through the app store. There's millions of games being developed and there are billions of mobile phones and there are these two app stores you need to get through," Chen told Cheddar. "So you really need a great marketing engine to match those users with the right content, and that's what we do."
He said the company's public debut marks an opportune time for day traders and the like to invest as the future of the company looks bright.
"This ecosystem is extremely large. It's fragmented. We are a very large player in the category," he said. "We've had very good growth, our fourth quarter grew over 80 percent, and we continue to gain momentum."
AppLovin specializes in mobile game development and promotion and has become a leader in the field through various acquisitions, which Chen noted are always strategic with the goal of "building our trajectory for growth."
Mobile gaming, however, is not the ceiling for AppLovin, according to Chen. The CEO said that there is an opportunity for the company to expand into health and wellness, fintech, and even e-commerce. He also noted that the company's potential for profitability on a consistent quarterly basis lies in its ability to remain cash-flow positive, allowing the company to reinvest in itself.
AppLovin's stock fell after its debut from $70 to around $65 a share in afternoon trading.
Nvidia on Wednesday became the first public company to reach a market capitalization of $5 trillion. The ravenous appetite for the Silicon Valley company’s chips is the main reason that the company’s stock price has increased so rapidly since early 2023.
Chris Williamson, Chief Business Economist at S&P Global, breaks down September’s CPI print and inflation trends, explaining what it means for markets.
A big-screen adaptation of the anime “Chainsaw Man” has topped the North American box office, beating a Springsteen biopic and “Black Phone 2.” The movie earned $17.25 million in the U.S. and Canada this weekend. “Black Phone 2” fell to second place with $13 million. Two new releases, the rom-com “Regretting You” and “Springsteen — Deliver Me From Nowhere,” earned $12.85 million and $9.1 million, respectively. “Chainsaw Man – The Movie: Reze Arc” is based on the manga series about a demon hunter. It's another win for Sony-owned Crunchyroll, which also released a “Demon Slayer” film last month that debuted to a record $70 million.
The Federal Aviation Administration says flights departing for Los Angeles International Airport were halted briefly due to a staffing shortage at a Southern California air traffic facility. The FAA issued a temporary ground stop at one of the world’s busiest airports on Sunday morning soon after U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy predicted that travelers would see more flights delayed as the nation’s air traffic controllers work without pay during the federal government shutdown. The hold on planes taking off for LAX lasted an hour and 45 minutes and didn't appear to cause continued problems. The FAA said staffing shortages also delayed planes headed to Washington, Chicago and Newark, New Jersey on Sunday.
