Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Down 5.9% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Applied Digital's share price fell 5.9% on Wednesday, trading as low as $29.09 before closing at $30.62, amid a significant increase in trading volume.
• Analysts have largely maintained a positive outlook on Applied Digital, with numerous firms raising their target prices and assigning ratings such as "buy" and "outperform."
• Applied Digital reported earnings of ($0.03) per share, exceeding analysts' expectations, and showcased a strong year-over-year revenue growth of 84.3%, despite a negative net margin.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 5.9% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $29.09 and last traded at $30.62. Approximately 46,606,858 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 27% from the average daily volume of 36,701,934 shares. The stock had previously closed at $32.54.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on APLD shares. HC Wainwright raised their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, October 10th. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, September 15th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 9th. B. Riley reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $18.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $22.10.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $8.56 billion, a PE ratio of -27.10 and a beta of 6.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 0.65 and a quick ratio of 0.65. The business's fifty day moving average price is $21.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $13.27.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 9th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.08. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 111.29% and a negative return on equity of 37.14%. The business had revenue of $38.01 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $52.25 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.15) earnings per share. Applied Digital's quarterly revenue was up 84.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In other news, CEO Wes Cummins sold 400,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.26, for a total value of $6,104,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 2,659,379 shares of the company's stock, valued at $40,582,123.54. The trade was a 13.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 20,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.26, for a total value of $305,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 297,987 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,547,281.62. This represents a 6.29% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 506,250 shares of company stock worth $7,713,675 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in APLD. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 29.4% during the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 13,778 shares of the company's stock valued at $77,000 after purchasing an additional 3,127 shares during the period. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $90,000. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 1st quarter worth approximately $79,000. Cambridge Investment Research Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $223,000. Finally, Clear Creek Financial Management LLC purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the 1st quarter valued at $282,000. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation designs, develops, and operates datacenters in North America. Its datacenters provide digital infrastructure solutions to the high-performance computing industry. The company also provides artificial intelligence cloud services, high performance computing datacenter hosting, and crypto datacenter hosting services.

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