Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Climb 7.4% – What’s Next?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) rose 7.4% during trading on Wednesday. The stock traded as high as $18.60 and last traded at $17.91. 27,829,814 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 19% from the average daily volume of 23,394,389 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.68.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Digital

Here are a few of the latest headlines about APLD:

• Positive Sentiment: A proposed Louisiana financing arrangement could use Meta’s lease to support up to $4.6 billion in bonds for an Applied Digital AI campus, potentially helping fund infrastructure expansion. Article: Meta’s Lease Could Back Up Louisiana Bonds for Applied Digital’s AI Campus
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary sees durable demand for AI compute but cautions that financing conditions and fears of an AI bubble remain important risks to the investment case. Article: Applied Digital—AI Bubble Fears, Durable Demand, and Financing Risks
• Negative Sentiment: Reports flag APLD’s substantial business exposure to CoreWeave, including a 400-megawatt lease reportedly valued at about $11 billion. CoreWeave’s debt trading at distressed yields raises concern that tenant credit problems could threaten confidence in Applied Digital’s growth and financing plans. Article: Applied Digital Carries $11 Billion in CoreWeave Exposure

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $41.00 to $25.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, October 19th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Digital presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $56.42.

Applied Digital Trading Up 7.4%

The business has a fifty day moving average price of $22.57 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.66. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.42 billion, a PE ratio of -10.92 and a beta of 5.58.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.29. The firm had revenue of $300.39 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.29 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 51.28% and a negative return on equity of 27.21%. Applied Digital’s revenue was up 367.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. Analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -2.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Wes Cummins acquired 55,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $18.04 per share, with a total value of $1,006,686.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 5,874,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,975,132.12. This trade represents a 0.96% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 31,250 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $682,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 102,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,475.52. This trade represents a 23.43% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 modified their holdings of the company. Whitaker Myers Wealth Managers LTD. purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the second quarter worth about $1,841,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 39.6% in the second quarter. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. now owns 146,633 shares of the company’s stock valued at $5,469,000 after purchasing an additional 41,562 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,970,000. Engineers Gate Manager LP acquired a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $4,350,000. Finally, Situational Awareness LP grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 14.1% in the second quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 15,384,616 shares of the company’s stock valued at $574,000 after purchasing an additional 1,906,178 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Company Profile

Applied Digital Corporation develops, builds and operates data centers designed for high-density computing. Its facilities support digital asset mining as well as high-performance computing workloads, including artificial intelligence applications, and the company provides hosting and infrastructure services to customers in these sectors. The company also offers cloud services that give customers access to computing capacity for demanding workloads. Its data center operations are focused in the United States, including facilities in North Dakota.