AppLovin says it moderated buybacks in second quarter on lower free cash flow

On its second-quarter call, CFO Matt Stumpf said the company repurchased and withheld approximately 1.14 million shares for $551 million in the quarter, after roughly $1 billion deployed in the first quarter. Stumpf said the moderated pace reflects consideration of lower free cash flow in the quarter, which was $863 million.

AppLovin said it expects free cash flow conversion to improve in the third quarter and to normalize to roughly 75% of adjusted EBITDA for the full year.

Quotes from the call

“Our choice to moderate the pace of our buybacks this quarter relative to the roughly $1 billion we have deployed in the first quarter reflects consideration of our lower free cash flow during the quarter and does not indicate a change in conviction or in how we intend to use the authorization going forward.”