Sifting through countless of stocks in the Communications Equipment industry can be tedious, and sometimes two stocks are just too similar to judge which is the better investment. If you’re on the fence about investing in F5, Inc. or AppLovin Corporation because you’re not sure how they measure up, it’s important to compare them on a few factors before making your decision.

Read on to learn how F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation compare based on key financial metrics to determine which better meets your investment needs.

About F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation

F5, Inc. provides multicloud application security and delivery solutions in the United States, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific region. The company’s distributed cloud services enable its customers to deploy, secure, and operate applications in any architecture, from on-premises to the public cloud. It also offers unified, security, networking, and application management solutions, such as web app and API protection; multi-cloud networking; application delivery and deployment; domain name system; content delivery network; and application deployment and orchestration. In addition, the company provides application security and delivery products, including NGINX Plus; NGINX One Console; NGINX Ingress Controller; WAF for NGINX; BIG-IP Packaged Software; and BIG-IP Systems. Further, it provides a range of professional services, including maintenance, consulting, training, and other technical support services. The company sells its products to large enterprise businesses, public sector institutions, governments, and service providers through distributors, value-added resellers, managed service providers, systems integrators, and other indirect channel partners. It has partnerships with public cloud providers, such as Amazon Web Services, Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform. The company was formerly known as F5 Networks, Inc. and changed its name to F5, Inc. in November 2021. F5, Inc. was incorporated in 1996 and is headquartered in Seattle, Washington.

AppLovin Corporation provides end-to-end artificial intelligence-powered advertising solutions for businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through two segments, Advertising and Apps. The company offers Axon Ads Manager, a suite of marketing solutions that enables developers to automate, optimize, and manage marketing efforts; MAX, an in-app bidding technology that optimizes the value of a publisher’s advertising inventory by running a real-time competitive auction; Adjust, a measurement and analytics marketing platform; and Wurl, a connected TV platform, which distributes streaming video for content companies, provides advertising and publishing solutions. It serves individuals, small and independent businesses, enterprises, advertisers and advertising networks, mobile app publishers, and indie studio developers. The company was incorporated in 2011 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, California.

Latest Communications Equipment and F5, Inc., AppLovin Corporation Stock News

As of September 8, 2026, F5, Inc. had a $22.1 billion market capitalization, compared to the Communications Equipment median of $347.8 million. F5, Inc.’s stock is NA in 2026, NA in the previous five trading days and up 23.34% in the past year.

Currently, F5, Inc.’s price-earnings ratio is 31.0. F5, Inc.’s trailing 12-month revenue is $3.3 billion with a 22.0% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 10.9%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $17.331 per share for the current fiscal year. F5, Inc. does not currently pay a dividend.

Currently, AppLovin Corporation’s price-earnings ratio is 24.0. AppLovin Corporation’s trailing 12-month revenue is $6.8 billion with a 64.6% net profit margin. Year-over-year quarterly sales growth most recently was 52.8%. Analysts expect adjusted earnings to reach $16.755 per share for the current fiscal year. AppLovin Corporation does not currently pay a dividend.

How We Compare F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation Stock Grades

Stock evaluation requires access to huge amounts of data and the knowledge and time to sift through it all, make sense of financial ratios, read income statements and analyze recent stock movements. AAII created A+ Investor, a robust data suite that condenses data research in an actionable and customizable way suitable for investors of all knowledge levels, to help investors streamline and work through such data.

AAII’s proprietary stock grades come with A+ Investor. These offer intuitive A‐F grades for each of five key investing factors: value, growth, momentum, earnings estimate revisions and quality. Here, we’ll take a closer look at F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation’s stock grades to see how they measure up against one another.

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F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation Growth Grades

Company	Ticker	Growth
F5, Inc.	FFIV	B
AppLovin Corporation	APP	C

The foundation of growth investing is seeking out stocks of companies exhibiting strong, consistent and prolonged growth that is expected to continue into the future.

In order to compute the growth score and assign it a letter grade, the percentile ranks for each of three components‐consistency of annual sales growth, five-year sales growth rankings adjusted for extreme levels, and consistency of positive annual cash from operations‐must be determined. These three rank figures are added together, and the sum is ranked against the entire stock universe to arrive at a company’s Growth Score to create an equal distribution of grades.

The companies in the bottom 20% of the stock universe receive Growth Grades of F, considered to be very weak, while those in the top 20% receive A grades, which are considered very strong.

F5, Inc. has a Growth Score of 78, which is Strong. AppLovin Corporation has a Growth Score of 59, which is Average.

The Growth Grade Winner: F5, Inc.

As you can clearly see from the Growth Grade breakdown above, F5, Inc. has a more attractive growth grade than AppLovin Corporation. For investors who focus solely on how a company is growing relative to other companies in the same industry, F5, Inc. could be a good stock to add to their portfolio. However, it’s important for investors to analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before deciding whether to buy.

F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation’s Quality Grades

Company	Ticker	Quality
F5, Inc.	FFIV	A
AppLovin Corporation	APP	A

Like the Value Grade, AAII’s A+ Investor Quality Grade comes from the percentile rank of key metrics. Specifically, the Quality Score is the percentile rank of the average of the percentile ranks of return on assets (ROA), return on invested capital (ROIC), gross profit relative to assets, buyback yield, change in total liabilities to assets, accruals, Z double prime bankruptcy risk (Z) score and the F-Score.

The score is variable, meaning it can consider all eight measures or, should any of the eight measures not be valid, the remaining measures that are valid. To be assigned a Quality Score, stocks must have a valid (non-null) measure and corresponding ranking for at least four of the eight quality measures.

The Quality Score is used to assess the underlying “quality” of a particular stock. A higher-quality stock possesses traits associated with upside potential and reduced downside risk. Backtesting of the Quality Grade shows that stocks with higher grades, on average, outperformed stocks with lower grades over the period of 1998 through 2019.

Stocks receive better grades (higher scores) for having higher scores for the quality subcomponents and worse grades (lower scores) for lower scores for the subcomponents.

F5, Inc. has a Quality Score of 94, which is Very Strong. AppLovin Corporation has a Quality Score of 98, which is Very Strong.

The Quality Grade Winner: It’s a Tie!

Looking at the Quality Grade breakdown above, both F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation have a grade of A. For investors who focus solely on a company’s overall quality, you will need to conduct further research into both companies to see if they are a good fit for your portfolio. As a good rule of thumb, you should always analyze multiple factors based on a wide range of metrics before choosing a company to invest in.

F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation’s Momentum Grades

Company	Ticker	Momentum
F5, Inc.	FFIV	C
AppLovin Corporation	APP	F

Momentum grades help to uncover stocks experiencing anomalously high rates of return; research finds that stocks with high relative levels of momentum tend to outperform, whereas those with low levels of momentum tend to continue underperforming. Momentum is based on the price change of a stock over a specified period relative to all other stocks.

Typically, AAII looks at the weighted relative strength over the trailing four quarters. The weighted four-quarter relative strength rank is the relative price change for each of the past four quarters. The most recent quarterly price change is given a weight of 40% and each of the three previous quarters are given a weighting of 20%.

F5, Inc. has a Momentum Score of 59, which is Average. AppLovin Corporation has a Momentum Score of 12, which is Very Weak.

The Momentum Stock Winner: No Clear Winner

Neither F5, Inc. or AppLovin Corporation has a strong enough Momentum Grade to be considered a “winner.” Investors considering these companies should do additional due diligence and research to see if either could be a good addition to their portfolios. It’s important to look at a wide range of financial metrics in order to determine if F5, Inc. or AppLovin Corporation is the better investment when it comes to momentum.

Other F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation Grades

In addition to Momentum, Growth and Quality, A+ Investor also provides grades for Value and Estimate Revisions.

Earnings estimate revisions scores take into account the magnitude of a company’s earnings surprise in its last two reported fiscal quarters. Often, surprises beget further surprises‐or at least continued sales growth (the exact opposite is generally true, too).

Successful stock investing involves buying low and selling high, so stock valuation is an important consideration for stock selection. Buying stocks that are going to go up typically means buying stocks that are undervalued in the first place, although momentum investors may argue that point.

These 2 key factors, when combined with the above, provide a holistic view into a particular stock. Further, by joining A+ Investor you can see whether F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation pass any of our 60+ stock screens that have outperformed the market since their creation.

So, Which Is the Better Investment, F5, Inc. or AppLovin Corporation Stock?

Overall, F5, Inc. stock has a Growth Score of 78, Momentum Score of 59 and Quality Score of 94.

AppLovin Corporation stock has a Growth Score of 59, Momentum Score of 12 and Quality Score of 98.

Comparing F5, Inc. and AppLovin Corporation’s grades, scores and metrics can act as a solid basis to determine whether they may be a good investment or not. You’ll also want to look at your portfolio’s asset allocation as well as your risk tolerance and financial goals to see if either of these stocks would make a good fit for you. AAII can help you figure out which investments align with your individual needs and preferences.

Investors are encouraged to do their own due diligence and research. In this way, individuals can effectively become managers of their own assets‐without having to rely on others for financial independence. You can count on AAII for timeless articles on financial planning and stock-picking, unbiased research and actionable analysis.

A+ Investor adds to our qualitative teaching with a powerful data suite to help you whittle down investment choices to find stocks, exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or mutual funds that meet your needs.

AAII Disclaimer

We make no representations or warranties that any investor will, or is likely to, achieve profits similar to those shown, because past, hypothetical or simulated performance is not necessarily indicative of future results. Before making an investment decision, you should consider your circumstances and whether the information on our content is applicable to your situation. This information was prepared in good faith, and we accept no liability for any errors or omissions. The full disclaimer can be read here.