Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 4.8% - Time to Buy?

Key Points

• Applied Digital shares rose 4.8% to $31.53 on Friday with ~19.6M shares trading, below the 27M average daily volume.
• Wall Street sentiment is positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $42.78, with some analysts setting targets as high as $56 and multiple recent upgrades.
• The company reported Q earnings of ($0.36) EPS, missing estimates by $0.23 while revenue jumped 139% year-over-year to $108.6M; margins remain negative and analysts forecast about -0.96 EPS for the year.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s share price rose 4.8% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as high as $31.72 and last traded at $31.53. Approximately 19,570,140 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 27% from the average daily volume of 26,908,988 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.09.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLD has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. B. Riley Financial lifted their target price on Applied Digital to $53.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, January 9th. Texas Capital upgraded Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. Northland Securities set a $56.00 target price on Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Lake Street Capital reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $45.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday, December 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $42.78.

Applied Digital Stock Up 4.8%

The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $28.67 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $9.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -42.61 and a beta of 7.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.38, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 8th. The company reported ($0.36) EPS 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 firm had revenue of $108.55 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $78.47 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 139.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In other news, Director Chuck Hastings sold 45,987 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $38.57, for a total transaction of $1,773,718.59. Following the sale, the director directly owned 388,372 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $14,979,508.04. This trade represents a 10.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 9.50% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 36.4% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company's stock worth $592,601,000 after acquiring an additional 6,445,908 shares during the period. Situational Awareness LP lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% in the fourth quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company's stock worth $278,034,000 after acquiring an additional 5,274,905 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company's stock worth $154,151,000 after acquiring an additional 304,228 shares during the period. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $138,380,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% in the second quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company's stock worth $52,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198,223 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is 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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