Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Trading 2.4% Higher Following Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s stock price was up 2.4% on Tuesday after Craig Hallum raised their price target on the stock from $75.00 to $79.00. Craig Hallum currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Digital traded as high as $46.87 and last traded at $41.91. Approximately 42,728,780 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 65% from the average daily volume of 25,830,023 shares. The stock had previously closed at $40.94.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on APLD. Needham & Company LLC boosted their target price on Applied Digital from $66.00 to $83.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Citigroup restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday. Lake Street Capital lifted their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Zacks Research raised Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Saturday, April 11th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $67.67.

Insider Buying and Selling 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 stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total transaction of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 208,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,207,795.02. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $6,466,367.82. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 35,000 shares of company stock worth $1,182,175 over the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Applied Digital News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital secured a 15-year, $5.2 billion lease with a U.S. hyperscaler, sharply improving long-term revenue visibility. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: The company expanded to a fifth AI campus and pushed contracted revenue to about $36 billion, reinforcing its growth story. Article Link
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts at Lake Street, Needham, and Craig Hallum raised price targets and kept bullish ratings, signaling further upside potential. Article Link
• Neutral Sentiment: Applied Digital plans to raise $1.59 billion in senior secured notes to fund construction, which supports expansion but increases leverage and execution risk. Article Link
• Negative Sentiment: Zacks added APLD to its Strong Sell list, highlighting ongoing skepticism despite the recent deal news. Article Link

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 84.8% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 8,692 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Applied Digital by 239.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 23,457 shares in the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Applied Digital by 113.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after purchasing an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new position in Applied Digital in the 1st quarter worth approximately $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers boosted its stake in Applied Digital by 61.0% in the 2nd quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 23,360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $11.98 billion, a PE ratio of -56.63 and a beta of 5.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $36.49 and its 200-day simple moving average is $32.25.

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