Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Down 9.2% - What's Next?

Key Points

• Shares fell 9.2% to $22 on Wednesday with about 28.5 million shares traded (roughly 19% below average); the stock is highly volatile (beta 6.94) and sits below its 50‑day moving average ($29.69) but above its 200‑day ($19.92).
• Analyst sentiment is generally positive with a consensus of "Moderate Buy" (11 Buys, 1 Sell, 1 Strong Buy) and an average price target of $26.20, while some firms have raised targets as high as $37–$39.
• Applied Digital beat quarterly EPS estimates (‑$0.03 vs. ‑$0.11) and reported revenue up 84.3% to $64.22 million, but remains unprofitable (net margin ‑111.29%, negative ROE) and faces insider selling (328,035 shares sold last quarter, ~9.5% insider ownership).

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) was down 9.2% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $21.93 and last traded at $22.00. Approximately 28,473,966 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 19% from the average daily volume of 35,144,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.24.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on APLD. Compass Point began coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Monday, September 15th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Lake Street Capital increased their price target on Applied Digital from $18.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Finally, Craig Hallum boosted their price objective on Applied Digital to $39.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $26.20.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

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 stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.69 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $19.92. The company has a market cap of $6.14 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.47 and a beta of 6.94.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 9th. The company reported ($0.03) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.11) by $0.08. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 37.14% and a negative net margin of 111.29%.The business had revenue of $64.22 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $52.25 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.15) EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 84.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In related news, Director Chuck Hastings sold 25,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.27, for a total value of $856,750.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 426,612 shares of the company's stock, valued at $14,619,993.24. This represents a 5.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Ella G. Benson sold 42,569 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.30, for a total transaction of $1,502,685.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 69,256 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,444,736.80. This represents a 38.07% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 328,035 shares of company stock valued at $11,376,479. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Digital by 56,450.0% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 101.8% in the third quarter. Evolution Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,600 shares of the company's stock valued at $37,000 after buying an additional 807 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP boosted its stake in Applied Digital by 70.0% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 1,746 shares of the company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 719 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CoreCap Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Applied Digital by 124.9% during the third quarter. CoreCap Advisors LLC now owns 1,804 shares of the company's stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 1,002 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 65.67% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.