Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 14% - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Stock jumped 14% on Tuesday to about $31.46 (intraday high $31.92) with roughly 37.7M shares traded, ~39% above average volume.
• Catalysts include HC Wainwright raising its FY2027 EPS outlook and an industry tailwind from rising GPU prices that could boost demand for Applied Digital’s GPU-as-a-Service; analyst consensus is a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $39.20.
• Key risks remain: the company is still unprofitable with volatile margins and EPS misses, faces customer concentration and notable insider selling, and carries a high beta that heightens execution and near-term profitability uncertainty.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 14% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $31.92 and last traded at $31.46. Approximately 37,690,520 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 39% from the average daily volume of 27,210,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.60.

Applied Digital News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: HC Wainwright lifted its FY2027 EPS view sharply (to $0.69) and modeled positive quarterly EPS for 2027, implying a path back to profitability that likely underpins investor optimism. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Macro/industry tailwind — rising GPU prices and constrained supply are boosting demand for GPU-as-a-Service providers like Applied Digital, which could drive revenue and margin leverage if the company captures more AI workload customers. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst consensus leans mildly constructive: several research notes and aggregate ratings (e.g., “Moderate Buy” average) provide backing, but there is dispersion in near-term estimates. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Longer-term bull/bear debate remains active — retail commentary and analyst takes highlight substantial upside from AI/data-center exposure but emphasize execution risk; useful for investors balancing conviction vs. risk management. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Customer concentration risk — independent coverage flags heavy reliance on a small number of tenants (one major tenant in particular), which reduces revenue visibility and increases downside if that tenant scales back. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing losses and rising costs — recent articles note that revenue growth has come with mounting operating costs and continued GAAP losses; these factors keep near-term profitability uncertain despite top-line momentum. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades to near-term estimates — HC Wainwright and Northland trimmed FY2026 EPS forecasts (worse near-term profitability), which highlights execution and margin risk before the 2027 recovery scenario. Read More.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLD has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Digital from a "hold" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 8th. Northland Securities set a $56.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citigroup reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $40.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Finally, Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, January 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $39.20.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 2.38. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.51 and a beta of 7.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $28.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $29.57.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.13) by ($0.23). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 52.84% and a negative return on equity of 15.91%. The business had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.47 million. During the same period last year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Applied Digital

In other Applied Digital news, CEO Wes Cummins sold 165,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.42, for a total value of $6,009,300.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,176,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $152,101,902.18. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $425,400.00. Following the sale, the director owned 233,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,273,250.10. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 234,593 shares of company stock valued at $8,617,878. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in APLD. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 84.8% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company's stock worth $106,000 after buying an additional 8,692 shares during the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 239.1% during the first quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company's stock worth $187,000 after buying an additional 23,457 shares during the last quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 113.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company's stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares during the last quarter. Strs Ohio purchased a new stake in Applied Digital during the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 61.0% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company's stock worth $621,000 after buying an additional 23,360 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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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