Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Up 5.5% - Should You Buy?

Key Points

• APLD rose 5.5% to $36.70 on Tuesday with about 26.5M shares traded, roughly 34% below its average daily volume.
• Analysts carry an average Buy rating but a consensus price target of $34.73 (below the current price); several firms have recently upgraded the stock and set higher targets (B. Riley $53).
• Q4 revenue jumped ~250% to $126.6M but the company missed EPS expectations (‑$0.11 vs. ‑$0.09) and showed negative margins/ROE, while insiders sold ~244,593 shares (~$9.0M) in the past 90 days, including the CEO selling 165,000 shares.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s stock price rose 5.5% during mid-day trading on Tuesday . The company traded as high as $36.73 and last traded at $36.70. Approximately 26,504,245 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 34% from the average daily volume of 40,254,863 shares. The stock had previously closed at $34.80.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen upgraded Applied Digital from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, January 10th. B. Riley raised their price target on Applied Digital to $53.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, January 9th. Arete Research began coverage on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Texas Capital raised shares of Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, January 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Digital currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $34.73.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 4.82, a current ratio of 4.82 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79. The firm has a market cap of $10.26 billion, a P/E ratio of -67.96 and a beta of 6.89. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.55 and a 200-day simple moving average of $24.93.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.02). Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 13.53% and a negative net margin of 43.49%.The business had revenue of $126.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 250.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total value of $425,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 233,378 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,273,250.10. The trade was a 4.89% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Wes Cummins sold 165,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.42, for a total transaction of $6,009,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,176,329 shares of the company's stock, valued at $152,101,902.18. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 244,593 shares of company stock valued at $9,003,278. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of APLD. Atlantic Union Bankshares Corp bought a new stake in Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Activest Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Larson Financial Group LLC lifted its position in Applied Digital by 56,450.0% during the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company's stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 1,129 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.