AppLovin vs Alphabet (APP vs GOOG)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Alphabet is the larger company by revenue ($402.8B vs $5.5B) and market value ($4.1T vs $104.7B). AppLovin has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+96.2% cumulative vs +56.4%). AppLovin runs the higher operating margin (75.8% vs 32.0%). Alphabet trades at the lower trailing P/E (16.8x vs 24.0x).
About AppLovin
AppLovin Corp provides artificial intelligence-powered advertising solutions that help businesses reach, monetize, and grow their global audiences. Its main products include Axon Ads Manager for user acquisition, MAX for in-app bidding and monetization, Adjust for marketing measurement and analytics, and Wurl for connected TV advertising and content distribution. The company serves advertisers and publishers, particularly in the mobile app and streaming video industries.
About Alphabet
Alphabet Inc. operates as a collection of businesses, with its largest segment being Google. Google provides services including Search, YouTube, advertising platforms, Android, Chrome, and devices like the Pixel series, serving users worldwide. Alphabet also offers Google Cloud services to businesses, delivering cloud computing solutions and productivity tools.
Head to head (APP FY2025 vs GOOG FY2025)
| Metric | APPFY2025 | GOOGFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.48B | $402.84B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 70.0% | 15.1% |
| Gross margin | 87.9% | 59.7% |
| Operating margin | 75.8% | 32.0% |
| Net margin | 60.8% | 32.8% |
| Net income | $3.33B | $132.17B |
| Diluted EPS | $9.75 | $10.81 |
| FCF margin | — | 18.2% |
| ROE | 156.2% | 31.8% |
| Long-term debt / equity | 1.65× | 0.11× |
| Market cap | $104.73B | $4.06T |
| P/E | 24.0× | 16.8× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (APP FY2025, GOOG FY2025). ROE is net income over fiscal-year-end equity; long-term debt / equity counts non-current term debt only. P/E and market cap are derived from stored market prices, last retrieved on a rolling basis and typically within the past week.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| Revenue | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APP | $2.79B | $2.82B | $1.84B | $3.22B | $5.48B |
| GOOG | $257.64B | $282.84B | $307.39B | $350.02B | $402.84B |
Peer standing
Where each company ranks among the 332 software companies, on the same scale. Each figure is ranked only against peers that report it. Percentiles describe position in the distribution, not a rating.
| Metric | APP | GOOG |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 87.9%97th percentile of 264 | 59.7%38th percentile of 264 |
| Operating margin | 75.8%Highest of 303 | 32.0%95th percentile of 303 |
| Net margin | 60.8%98th percentile of 307 | 32.8%93rd percentile of 307 |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +70.0%95th percentile of 325 | +15.1%61st percentile of 325 |
| ROE | 156.2%98th percentile of 285 | 31.8%88th percentile of 285 |
| P/E | 24.0×45th percentile of 169 | 16.8×30th percentile of 169 |
| Long-term debt / equity | 1.65×84th percentile of 127 | 0.11×21st percentile of 127 |
| Short interest (days to cover) | 1.42d17th percentile of 330 | 2.41d35th percentile of 330 |
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | APP | GOOG |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 11.4M | 42.9M |
| Change vs prior settlement | -4.5% | -8.6% |
| Days to cover | 1.42 | 2.41 |
| As of settlement | 2026-08-14 | 2026-08-14 |
Source: FINRA Consolidated Short Interest. FINRA is the owner and source of the FINRA-supplied data; republishing or redistributing it is not permitted. Not presented as a percentage of float. No FINRA endorsement of this product is implied.
Insider activity (last 90 days)
| Form 4 activity (codes P/S) | APP | GOOG |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | — |
| Sells | 142 ($148.4M) | — |
Non-derivative purchases (code P) and sales (code S) reported on SEC Form 4, which may be open-market or private (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 15% of covered companies saw any reported insider purchase (code P) in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
7 tracked 13F managers hold both AppLovin and Alphabet as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Bridgewater Associates, Citadel Advisors, Coatue Management, D. E. Shaw, Gotham Asset Management, Millennium Management. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
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Data sourced from SEC EDGAR. Figures are as-reported and may be unaudited or restated; verify against the source filings before relying on them. Comparisons are descriptive (higher or lower on a reported figure), not a rating or a recommendation. Informational only. Not investment advice.