Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 14.3% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• Applied Digital stock jumped 14.3% to about $41.35 intraday on Tuesday on above-average volume (~47.15M shares), up from a prior close of $36.18.
• The company reported Q results showing revenue of $126.6M (up 250% YoY) that beat estimates but missed on EPS (‑$0.11 vs. ‑$0.09), leaving it unprofitable with a negative net margin (‑43.49%); analysts still have a consensus “Buy” rating but a lower consensus price target of $33.27.
• Insiders have been net sellers recently (330,550 shares sold worth about $11.9M in the last 90 days), insiders own ~9.5% of the stock and institutional ownership is ~65.7%, indicating heavy institutional participation alongside recent insider dispositions.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) shot up 14.3% during trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $42.10 and last traded at $41.35. 47,150,272 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 8% from the average session volume of 43,755,281 shares. The stock had previously closed at $36.18.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLD has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, December 30th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $45.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Applied Digital to $39.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, October 23rd. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Applied Digital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, January 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $33.27.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $11.56 billion, a PE ratio of -76.57 and a beta of 6.89. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $29.03 and a 200-day moving average price of $23.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 4.82 and a quick ratio of 4.82.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 7th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $82.22 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 43.49% and a negative return on equity of 13.53%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 250.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.06) EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $425,400.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 233,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,273,250.10. This represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.54, for a total transaction of $385,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 200,859 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,741,105.86. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 330,550 shares of company stock worth $11,884,152 over the last ninety days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Voya Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 403.4% during the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 1,464,909 shares of the company's stock worth $33,605,000 after buying an additional 1,173,929 shares during the period. Chelsea Counsel Co. acquired a new position in Applied Digital during the 2nd quarter worth $582,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS boosted its holdings in Applied Digital by 27.7% during the second quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS now owns 41,500 shares of the company's stock valued at $418,000 after acquiring an additional 9,000 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at about $116,000. Finally, Two Seas Capital LP acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at about $5,035,000. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Applied Digital

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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