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

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s share price rose 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 traded hands during trading, an increase of 4% from the average daily volume of 22,900,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.39.

Other equities analysts have also issued reports about the company. Lake Street Capital boosted their price objective on Applied Digital from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, August 3rd. B. Riley Financial restated a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $36.50 to $37.50 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Four 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 two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the sale, the director owned 133,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,154,724.70. This represents a 35.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Digital

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 Trading of Applied Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLD. FNY Investment Advisers LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Applied Digital during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Applied Digital by 244.3% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 855 shares during the period. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 691.8% during the 2nd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after acquiring an additional 1,342 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Applied Digital Price Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -31.60 and a beta of 5.72. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.65 and a two-hundred day moving average of $32.64.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The business had revenue of $240.35 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $96.85 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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.