Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 2.7% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Applied Digital shares rose 2.7% in Thursday trading, reaching as high as $47.79 before closing near $46.71. Volume was lighter than usual, with about 16.3 million shares traded versus the average of 26.5 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains generally positive despite mixed analyst moves. The stock carries a Moderate Buy consensus rating and an average price target of $44.33, though individual targets range from $40 to $65.
• The company recently reported strong revenue growth but a wider-than-expected loss, posting EPS of -$0.36 on revenue of $108.55 million, up 139.3% year over year. Insider selling also appeared in recent weeks, including share sales by two directors.

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) shot up 2.7% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The company traded as high as $47.79 and last traded at $46.71. 16,272,386 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 38% from the average session volume of 26,452,074 shares. The stock had previously closed at $45.48.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on APLD. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. Zacks Research raised shares of Applied Digital from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Digital from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Saturday, April 11th. Northland Securities set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $44.33.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The firm has a market cap of $13.35 billion, a PE ratio of -63.12 and a beta of 5.69. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $30.43.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.The business had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $78.47 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted ($0.08) EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Digital news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 184,859 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,466,367.82. This represents a 5.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 208,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,207,795.02. The trade was a 5.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,182,175 in the last quarter. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 36.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company's stock valued at $592,601,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445,908 shares during the last quarter. Situational Awareness LP boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% during the 4th quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,034,000 after purchasing an additional 5,274,905 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,151,000 after purchasing an additional 304,228 shares during the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $138,380,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,561,000 after purchasing an additional 5,198,223 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 65.67% of the company's stock.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.

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