Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Down 4.1% - Here's Why

Key Points

• Applied Digital shares fell 4.1% to $27.14, with trading volume roughly half the average daily level.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $68.15 price target, despite some recent sell and strong-sell ratings.
• The company’s revenue surged 406.3% year over year to $240.35 million, but it missed earnings expectations and reported a quarterly loss of $0.39 per share; a director also sold 75,000 shares.

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report)'s stock price fell 4.1% on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $27.04 and last traded at $27.14. 11,618,541 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 50% from the average session volume of 23,170,385 shares. The stock had previously closed at $28.31.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

APLD has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Applied Digital from a "sell" rating to a "strong sell" rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Craig Hallum raised their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Lucid Cap Mkts upgraded shares of Applied Digital to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Compass Point reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $70.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, one has issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $68.15.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $7.91 billion, a PE ratio of -30.49 and a beta of 5.72. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.74 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $32.87. The company has a quick ratio of 4.01, a current ratio of 4.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.09) by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $240.35 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $96.85 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $2,336,250.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 133,378 shares in the company, valued at $4,154,724.70. This represents a 35.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of APLD. California State Teachers Retirement System grew its stake in Applied Digital by 3,718.0% in the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 11,121,928 shares of the company's stock worth $414,848,000 after purchasing an additional 10,830,623 shares in the last quarter. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $312,349,000. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the 4th quarter worth $138,380,000. Situational Awareness LP increased its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% during the fourth quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company's stock valued at $278,034,000 after buying an additional 5,274,905 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets raised its holdings 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 valued at $52,561,000 after acquiring an additional 5,198,223 shares in 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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