Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 8.1% – What’s Next?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) was up 8.1% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $35.50 and last traded at $31.94. Approximately 90,891,542 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 92% from the average daily volume of 47,216,582 shares. The stock had previously closed at $29.56.

Applied Digital News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Huge top‑line beat: Q2 revenue rose ~250% YoY to $126.6M, materially topping Street estimates as AI/HPC tenant fit‑outs at Polaris Forge 1 ramped — the core driver behind today’s buying. Applied Digital beats quarterly revenue estimates — Reuters
• Positive Sentiment: Big capacity & pipeline: management disclosed a pipeline that supports adding ~900 MW and cited a $16B hyperscale lease pipeline while targeting $1B in NOI over coming years — signaling multi‑year revenue visibility. Applied Digital Targets $1B NOI — Yahoo
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support: Needham reiterated a Buy and set a $41 PT; other firms (Freedom Capital, Arete) have initiated/upgraded coverage — adds conviction and likely attracts buying. Analyst reiterations — TipRanks
• Neutral Sentiment: Operational progress & adjusted results: company reported improved leverage (positive adjusted EBITDA reported in commentary) and executives signaled several multi‑year contracts — helpful for medium‑term earnings trajectory but timing remains uncertain. MarketBeat recap
• Negative Sentiment: GAAP profitability still weak: the company reported a GAAP EPS miss (loss of $0.11 vs. consensus −$0.09) and wide negative net margins/ROE; higher costs pushed below‑estimate earnings, a reminder of execution/cost risks as scale builds. Earnings miss & cost pressure — Zacks
• Negative Sentiment: Volatility & short‑interest risk: the stock has been volatile and previously very high short interest can amplify moves both up (squeeze) and down (rapid reversals) — watch flow and volume. Short interest context — MarketBeat

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on APLD shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Freedom Capital upgraded Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. HC Wainwright raised their price target on Applied Digital from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Arete started coverage on Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Citigroup reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $29.82.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.65, a quick ratio of 0.65 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.92 billion, a PE ratio of -28.27 and a beta of 6.89. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.31 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.48.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The company reported ($0.11) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.22 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 111.29% and a negative return on equity of 37.14%. The firm’s revenue was up 250.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In other Applied Digital news, Director Chuck Hastings sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.69, for a total value of $1,784,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 451,612 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,118,032.28. The trade was a 9.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Ella G. Benson sold 42,569 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $1,502,685.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 69,256 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,444,736.80. The trade was a 38.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 328,035 shares of company stock valued at $11,376,479. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Hood River Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Digital by 2.8% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 21,859,031 shares of the company’s stock valued at $220,120,000 after acquiring an additional 592,314 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 23.2% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 17,722,174 shares of the company’s stock valued at $406,547,000 after purchasing an additional 3,339,062 shares in the last quarter. Situational Awareness LP increased its position in shares of Applied Digital by 63.3% during the second quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 6,591,800 shares of the company’s stock valued at $66,379,000 after buying an additional 2,556,200 shares during the period. BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its stake in Applied Digital by 24,356.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company’s stock worth $52,561,000 after buying an additional 5,198,223 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in Applied Digital by 20.2% in the third quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 3,199,135 shares of the company’s stock worth $73,388,000 after buying an additional 537,839 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) is a technology company specializing in the development and operation of large-scale digital infrastructure and sustainable Bitcoin mining solutions. Through its integrated platform, the company designs, builds and manages turnkey data center facilities while also providing comprehensive hosting services for cloud, colocation and enterprise computing needs. Applied Digital’s modular approach to facility design enables rapid deployment of capacity and streamlined integration of power, cooling and network connectivity.

In addition to its data center business, Applied Digital operates a network of Bitcoin mining sites that leverage vertically integrated capabilities, including hardware procurement, mining farm engineering, energy management and real-time performance monitoring.