Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 6.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Shares jumped 6.2% (to $35.63) during mid-day trading with about 23.9M shares changing hands; the stock has a $10.18B market cap and a high beta (5.69).
• Analysts give Applied Digital a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with a $44.33 average target (breakdown: 2 Strong Buy, 11 Buy, 2 Sell) and notable price targets including $65 (Roth MKM) and $48 (Needham).
• Quarterly results showed revenue up 139% to $108.6M (beating estimates) but an EPS loss of $0.36 that missed expectations and left the company unprofitable (net margin -52.8%); analysts forecast -0.52 EPS for the year.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) shares shot up 6.2% during mid-day trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $36.24 and last traded at $35.63. 23,890,282 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 11% from the average session volume of 26,713,924 shares. The stock had previously closed at $33.55.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on APLD. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, April 24th. Freedom Capital raised Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC increased their price objective on Applied Digital to $48.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, April 24th. Finally, Texas Capital raised Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Digital presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $44.33.

Applied Digital Trading Up 6.2%

The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $10.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -48.15 and a beta of 5.69. The company has a fifty day moving average of $28.28 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.01.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). The firm had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. Applied Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.08) EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.52 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In related news, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 27th. The shares were 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 $6,466,367.82. This trade represents a 5.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 208,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,207,795.02. This trade represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,182,175. 9.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 3,800 shares of the company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the period. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,332 shares of the company's stock valued at $523,000 after acquiring an additional 318 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Brookstone Capital Management now owns 9,275 shares of the company's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 321 shares during the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 36,652 shares of the company's stock worth $841,000 after buying an additional 376 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,215 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after buying an additional 407 shares during the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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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