Sophie Blake
Advertising technology company AppLovin will be added to the S&P 500 index later this month, according to an announcement from S&P Dow Jones Indices. The change takes effect before markets open on September 22, 2025.
AppLovin will replace MarketAxess Holdings, a fixed-income trading platform.
The inclusion is expected to trigger increased demand for AppLovin’s stock as index-tracking funds and exchange-traded funds adjust their holdings to reflect the updated benchmark. Shares of AppLovin rose around 7% in after-hours trading following the announcement.
AppLovin, which went public on Nasdaq in 2021, develops software that delivers targeted advertising across mobile apps and games. The company’s stock has experienced significant volatility in recent years, with gains of 278% in 2023 and more than 700% in 2024, followed by a more moderate 51% increase so far in 2025. Earlier this year, AppLovin made headlines with its proposal to acquire the U.S. operations of TikTok from ByteDance, a deal still pending amid regulatory and political developments.
The company’s path to the S&P 500 was not without scrutiny. In March, short-seller Fuzzy Panda Research urged the index committee to block AppLovin’s inclusion, and its shares fell in December 2024 after Workday was chosen instead.
Despite the volatility, AppLovin’s addition to the benchmark reflects its position among the most valuable publicly traded companies in the United States. Its entry comes in a year when other tech firms, including Datadog and DoorDash, have also joined the index, further deepening the technology sector’s presence in the S&P 500.
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