Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading Up 10.5% – Still a Buy?

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) traded up 10.5% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The company traded as high as $44.25 and last traded at $44.0830. 32,419,785 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 21% from the average session volume of 26,848,459 shares. The stock had previously closed at $39.88.

Key Applied Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital completed the separation of its cloud business into an independent public company, ChronoScale (ticker CHRN), leaving Applied Digital focused on AI data‑center hosting and retaining a significant ownership stake — a strategic simplification investors rewarded. Applied Digital Completes Separation of Cloud Business
• Positive Sentiment: ChronoScale began trading as an independent company after the deal, and Applied Digital will retain roughly 97% ownership while investing $15.75M at closing — providing potential upside from two distinct public vehicles. Applied Digital Completes Separation of Cloud Business (Yahoo)
• Positive Sentiment: Investors cheered Applied Digital’s successful $300M financing to support data‑center expansion, improving liquidity to fund growth and likely easing near‑term capital concerns. Applied Digital Raises $300M for Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital announced a new 15‑year, $7.5B lease with an investment‑grade hyperscaler at its Delta Forge 1 campus, lifting total contracted lease revenue above $23B — materially boosting long‑term revenue visibility. Applied Digital’s Multi Billion AI Lease
• Neutral Sentiment: ChronoScale appointed Cenly Chen as CEO to lead its AI compute growth — a governance/mgmt update that supports the spin‑out’s operational credibility but does not directly change Applied Digital’s core hosting business. ChronoScale Appoints Cenly Chen as CEO
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary and speculative pieces (e.g., “Could APLD reach $180…”) are amplifying investor interest and momentum but are largely forward‑looking and speculative; they can drive short‑term volatility rather than new fundamentals. Could APLD Reach $180 on the AI Data Center Surge?
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the big lease and spin‑out, analysts caution the moves increase execution and concentration risks (long build/fulfillment timelines, counterparty exposure, and the complexity of owning a majority stake in the spun company), which could create downside if growth or funding stalls. Applied Digital Spins Off ChronoScale

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Zacks Research cut Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 8th. B. Riley Financial raised their target price on Applied Digital to $53.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, January 9th. Texas Capital upgraded Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $44.33.

Applied Digital Trading Up 10.5%

The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $28.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.08.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). The business had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.52 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In other news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $349,800.00. Following the sale, the director owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. This trade represents a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 208,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,207,795.02. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Applied Digital by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the company’s stock worth $93,000 after purchasing an additional 300 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Digital by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the company’s stock valued at $523,000 after buying an additional 318 shares during the last quarter. Brookstone Capital Management raised its position in Applied Digital by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,275 shares of the company’s stock valued at $227,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its position in Applied Digital by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,652 shares of the company’s stock valued at $841,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its position in Applied Digital by 4.6% in the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,215 shares of the company’s stock valued at $226,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

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.