AppLovin vs Meta Platforms (APP vs META)
Side by side from their SEC filings: revenue, margins, growth, returns and valuation, plus short interest, insider activity and institutional ownership.
Meta Platforms is the larger company by revenue ($201.0B vs $5.5B) and market value ($1.7T vs $148.8B). AppLovin has grown revenue faster over the last 4 fiscal years (+96.2% cumulative vs +70.4%). AppLovin runs the higher operating margin (75.8% vs 41.4%). Meta Platforms trades at the lower trailing P/E (23.9x vs 38.5x).
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 Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms, Inc. develops technology products that enable people to connect, share, and build communities through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and AI glasses. Its main offerings include social media apps like Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, Threads, and WhatsApp, as well as virtual reality devices such as Meta Quest and AI-powered wearables like Meta AI glasses. Meta serves individual users, creators, businesses, and advertisers worldwide by providing platforms for communication, content sharing, and digital advertising.
Head to head (APP FY2025 vs META FY2025)
| Metric | APPFY2025 | METAFY2025 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | $5.48B | $200.97B |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | 70.0% | 22.2% |
| Gross margin | 87.9% | 82.0% |
| Operating margin | 75.8% | 41.4% |
| Net margin | 60.8% | 30.1% |
| Net income | $3.33B | $60.46B |
| Diluted EPS | $9.75 | $23.49 |
| FCF margin | — | 22.9% |
| ROE | 156.2% | 27.8% |
| Debt / equity | 1.6× | 0.3× |
| Market cap | $148.77B | $1.67T |
| P/E (TTM) | 38.5× | 23.9× |
Fundamentals are from each company’s SEC filings (APP FY2025, META FY2025). P/E and market cap are derived from recent market prices and update daily.
Five-year trend (as reported)
| Revenue | FY2021 | FY2022 | FY2023 | FY2024 | FY2025 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| APP | $2.79B | $2.82B | $1.84B | $3.22B | $5.48B |
| META | $117.93B | $116.61B | $134.90B | $164.50B | $200.97B |
Peer standing
Where each company ranks among the 330 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 | META |
|---|---|---|
| Gross margin | 87.9%97th percentile of 261 | 82.0%88th percentile of 261 |
| Operating margin | 75.8%Highest of 302 | 41.4%97th percentile of 302 |
| Net margin | 60.8%98th percentile of 306 | 30.1%92nd percentile of 306 |
| Revenue growth (YoY) | +70.0%95th percentile of 323 | +22.2%77th percentile of 323 |
| ROE | 156.2%98th percentile of 283 | 27.8%85th percentile of 283 |
| P/E (TTM) | 38.5×65th percentile of 171 | 23.9×48th percentile of 171 |
| Debt / equity | 1.65×84th percentile of 125 | 0.27×38th percentile of 125 |
| Short interest (days to cover) | 2.07d29th percentile of 329 | 2.02d27th percentile of 329 |
Short interest
| FINRA settlement data | APP | META |
|---|---|---|
| Shares sold short | 12.1M | 34.5M |
| Change vs prior settlement | -5.7% | +15.0% |
| Days to cover | 2.07 | 2.02 |
| As of settlement | 2026-06-30 | 2026-06-30 |
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 open-market activity | APP | META |
|---|---|---|
| Buys | 0 | 0 |
| Sells | 211 ($197.3M) | 70 ($24.9M) |
Open-market purchases and sales reported on SEC Form 4 (grants, exercises and tax withholding excluded). For context, about 16% of covered companies saw any open-market insider buy in a 90-day window.
Held by the same investors
10 tracked 13F managers hold both AppLovin and Meta Platforms as of their latest quarterly filings: AQR Capital Management, Citadel Advisors, Coatue Management, D. E. Shaw, Gotham Asset Management, Millennium Management, Renaissance Technologies, Sands Capital Management, Tiger Global Management, Whale Rock Capital Management. See which superinvestors hold your own portfolio with the smart money checker.
Go deeper
APP vs CRWDAPP vs GOOGAPP vs MSFTAPP vs ORCLAPP vs PLTRAPP vs SHOPAll software stocks →All comparisons →
Track APP and META
Get an alert when either company files something material, see which superinvestors own them, and ask their filings a question with cited answers.
Start monitoring freeIncludes one free filing-grounded research answer. Or check your whole portfolio, no account needed.
Data sourced from SEC EDGAR (public domain). 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.