Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after Lake Street Capital raised their price target on the stock from $70.00 to $90.00. The stock had previously closed at $40.94, but opened at $45.83. Lake Street Capital currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Digital shares last traded at $43.9090, with a volume of 7,822,919 shares traded.

Other analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Lucid Cap Mkts raised shares of Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Saturday, April 11th. Needham & Company LLC upped their price target on shares of Applied Digital from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, April 24th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $63.22.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In related news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 208,378 shares in the company, valued at $7,207,795.02. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total transaction of $349,800.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,466,367.82. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Applied Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital signed a new 15-year, 210 MW lease at its Delta Forge 2 site with a U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler, which could generate about $5.2 billion in revenue and expands its AI Factory footprint to a fifth campus. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: The company said this deal brings total contracted lease revenue to roughly $36 billion, with about 70% now backed by investment-grade hyperscalers, strengthening confidence in long-term cash flow growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital also secured a revolving credit facility of up to $550 million, which should give it more flexibility to fund expansion and support strategic growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Needham raised its price target on Applied Digital to $83 from $66 and kept a Buy rating, signaling continued analyst confidence after the latest contract wins. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: The company announced plans to issue $1.59 billion of senior secured notes to help fund the fourth building at Polaris Forge 1, which supports growth but adds leverage and execution risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks added APLD to its Rank #5 (Strong Sell) list, which may temper some investor enthusiasm despite the stock’s recent momentum. Article Title

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLD. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in Applied Digital in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Applied Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, McMillan Office Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

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 company has a market cap of $12.14 billion, a PE ratio of -57.29 and a beta of 5.69. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $36.49 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.25.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.13) by ($0.23). Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.The company had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.