Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading Up 8.2% on Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shot up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The company traded as high as $26.80 and last traded at $26.38. Approximately 23,907,206 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 22,900,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.39.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on APLD. Lucid Cap Mkts raised shares of Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 26th. Northland Securities set a $82.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Sunday, August 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

More Applied Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and named Applied Digital a top idea. The firm cited approximately 1.4 gigawatts of contracted capacity, a power-advantaged data-center footprint, backlog quality and a valuation discount. Wells Fargo initiates Applied Digital with Overweight rating
• Positive Sentiment: A separate report said Wells Fargo upgraded the stock to “strong-buy,” reinforcing the positive analyst momentum and investor interest in Applied Digital’s AI infrastructure strategy. Applied Digital upgraded by Wells Fargo
• Positive Sentiment: A bullish Seeking Alpha analysis reiterated a Strong Buy and cited 1,410 megawatts of contracted IT load across five campuses, representing approximately $36 billion in initial 15-year lease revenue. The analysis also pointed to fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $42.4 million and adjusted net income of $12.9 million, suggesting progress in converting leases into earnings. Applied Digital: A Risky Play With Material Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: Recent trading coverage characterized the move as a rebound in an oversold AI-capacity group, meaning broader sector momentum and sentiment also contributed rather than a new company announcement. Applied Digital and TeraWulf rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Co-founder and insider Wes Cummins sold 49,188 shares worth approximately $1.3 million, reducing his direct stake by about 2%. The sale is relatively small but may weigh on sentiment because it represents insider selling. Applied Digital co-founder sells shares

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of APLD. WINTON GROUP Ltd acquired a new stake in Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $209,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP bought a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the second quarter worth approximately $4,350,000. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $265,000. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in Applied Digital by 35.1% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 81,134 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,026,000 after buying an additional 21,093 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Steamboat Capital Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $7,203,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Trading Up 6.6%

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a P/E ratio of -31.60 and a beta of 5.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.65 and its 200 day simple moving average is $32.64.

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

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) develops and operates digital infrastructure designed to support high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and other compute-intensive applications. The company provides data center capacity and related services to customers that require substantial computing power, connectivity and energy resources.

The company’s facilities are designed to support advanced computing workloads, including AI model development, cloud computing and digital asset-related applications.