Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock

Key Points

• Morgan Stanley raised Applied Digital’s price target to $37.50 from $36.50 while maintaining an “equal weight” rating, implying approximately 26% upside from the stock’s $29.68 price.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly positive: Applied Digital has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and a $68.15 average price target, with several firms setting targets between $60 and $83.
• The company’s quarterly revenue surged 406.3% year over year to $240.35 million, but it reported a larger-than-expected loss of $0.39 per share; shares were down 0.6% in midday trading.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) had its target price boosted by Morgan Stanley from $36.50 to $37.50 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an "equal weight" rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley's target price would suggest a potential upside of 26.33% from the company's current price.

Several other research firms have also issued reports on APLD. Compass Point reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Citizens Jmp raised their price target on shares of Applied Digital from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 21st. Lucid Cap Mkts raised Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $83.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $68.15.

Applied Digital Trading Down 0.6%

Shares of APLD traded down $0.18 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $29.68. The stock had a trading volume of 7,575,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,333,949. Applied Digital has a 1 year low of $13.16 and a 1 year high of $50.72. The firm has a market cap of $8.65 billion, a PE ratio of -33.38 and a beta of 5.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01. The stock's 50 day moving average is $36.26 and its 200 day moving average is $34.19.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The business had revenue of $240.35 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.85 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.24) EPS. The business's revenue was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Applied Digital will post -0.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Applied Digital by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company's stock worth $592,601,000 after buying an additional 6,445,908 shares during the period. Situational Awareness LP increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 13,478,438 shares of the company's stock valued at $319,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,378 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Applied Digital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company's stock valued at $154,151,000 after purchasing an additional 304,228 shares during the period. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the fourth quarter valued at $138,380,000. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 24,356.8% in the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 5,219,565 shares of the company's stock valued at $52,561,000 after buying an additional 5,198,223 shares during the period. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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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