Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Jumps 9.8% – What’s Next?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shot up 9.8% during mid-day trading on Tuesday. The stock traded as high as $17.99 and last traded at $17.81. 26,366,330 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 14% from the average session volume of 23,137,373 shares. The stock had previously closed at $16.22.

Applied Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital joined a broader technology-sector rally, with data-center and cloud stocks rising. The move also reflects a rebound in AI infrastructure shares after recent financing jitters weighed on the group; the reports point to sector sentiment, not a new company-specific announcement, as the main near-term lift. Article: Applied Digital Stock Jumps: What’s Going On? Article: Applied Digital Surges as AI Data Center Stocks Rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Funding uncertainty could limit the recovery. Reports say roughly 800 MW of planned capacity still needs financing, while another article highlights the burden of interest costs relative to rental revenue. Investors may remain wary of the capital required to build out AI data centers. Article: Applied Digital’s Interest Bill and Financing Gap
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and financing concerns have also fueled questions about whether the shares’ price is supported by current data-center revenue. B. Riley Financial reportedly cut its price target, adding to the cautious backdrop. Article: Has Applied Digital Become Overvalued? Article: Applied Digital Price Target Cut

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on APLD shares. B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $75.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Zacks Research cut Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Morgan Stanley set a $41.00 price objective on Applied Digital and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Roth Capital set a $35.00 price objective on Applied Digital and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.75.

Applied Digital Stock Up 9.8%

The firm has a market cap of $5.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.86 and a beta of 5.99. The company has a quick ratio of 2.56, a current ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $31.25.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.29. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 27.21% and a negative net margin of 51.28%. The firm had revenue of $300.39 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $116.29 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.03) earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 367.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -2.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In related news, CEO Wes Cummins bought 55,803 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.04 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,686.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 5,874,453 shares in the company, valued at $105,975,132.12. This trade represents a 0.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Jason Gechen Zhang purchased 300,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.86 per share, with a total value of $5,658,000.00. Following the transaction, the president directly owned 2,839,227 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $53,547,821.22. The trade was a 11.81% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Applied Digital by 7.0% during the 3rd quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 46,904 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,143,000 after purchasing an additional 3,072 shares in the last quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $243,000. Cannon Capital Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 3.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cannon Capital Management Inc. now owns 151,060 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,681,000 after buying an additional 4,371 shares during the last quarter. CenterBook Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,871,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Digital by 7.6% during the third quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 168,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $4,098,000 after buying an additional 11,857 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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

Its business includes high-performance computing data centers and cloud services intended to support artificial intelligence, machine learning, cryptocurrency mining and other compute-intensive workloads.