Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading Up 2.1% – Still a Buy?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s share price traded up 2.1% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $28.64 and last traded at $27.44. 15,888,210 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 32% from the average daily volume of 23,537,367 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.87.

Applied Digital News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital’s long-term AI data-center leases and expanding project pipeline could support substantial revenue growth over the next several years. One analysis projects significant upside if the company executes on those commitments. Prediction: Applied Digital Stock Will Jump 156% in 3 Years
• Positive Sentiment: Recent enthusiasm for Applied Digital’s AI infrastructure strategy and long-term contracts remains an important bullish factor, despite the stock’s recent weakness. Applied Digital Stock Is Down, But Its AI Data Center Business Is Powering Up
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Digital has delivered very strong three-year returns, but its valuation remains expensive on sales, meaning the market already reflects substantial optimism about future AI data-center growth. Applied Digital Stock Looks Strong On Returns But Expensive On Sales
• Negative Sentiment: A major impairment charge at IREN, including a writedown tied to older Bitcoin-mining equipment, triggered a broader selloff in capital-intensive AI and data-center stocks. Investors appear concerned about transition costs, execution risk and potential asset write-downs across the sector—even though Applied Digital did not report comparable bad news. Applied Digital Sinks as Data Center Selloff Broadens
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks Research downgraded Applied Digital from “hold” to “strong sell,” adding pressure to investor sentiment. Zacks.com

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $83.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Northland Securities set a $82.00 target price on Applied Digital and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Citizens Jmp upped their target price on Applied Digital from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Applied Digital from $36.50 to $37.50 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $68.15.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 4.01, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $30.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $33.36. The stock has a market cap of $7.39 billion, a PE ratio of -28.47 and a beta of 5.75.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 16.42% and a negative net margin of 37.78%.The firm had revenue of $240.35 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $96.85 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 133,378 shares in the company, valued at $4,154,724.70. This trade represents a 35.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. HighTower Advisors LLC grew its stake in Applied Digital by 13.7% in the 2nd quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 37,368 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,394,000 after buying an additional 4,498 shares in the last quarter. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the second quarter worth $962,000. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 3,718.0% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,121,928 shares of the company’s stock worth $414,848,000 after acquiring an additional 10,830,623 shares in the last quarter. Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the second quarter worth $272,000. Finally, AlphaGrep UK Ltd bought a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter worth $254,000. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.