Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 8.2% - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Applied Digital shares rose 8.2% to $26.38 in heavy trading, though the stock remains below its 50-day and 200-day moving averages.
• Analysts remain broadly bullish, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $66.50; recent targets range from $37.50 to $75.
• The company’s revenue surged 406.3% year over year to $240.35 million, but it missed EPS estimates, remains unprofitable, and carries elevated leverage. A director also sold 75,000 shares at an average price of $31.15.

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) shot up 8.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.80 and last traded at $26.38. Approximately 23,907,206 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 4% from the average session volume of 22,900,314 shares. The stock had previously closed at $24.39.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on APLD. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $36.50 to $37.50 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Citizens Jmp boosted their price target on Applied Digital from $40.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 21st. Compass Point reissued a "buy" rating and set a $70.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Friday, May 22nd. B. Riley Financial restated a "buy" rating and set a $75.00 price objective (up from $66.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company began coverage on Applied Digital in a research report on Thursday. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $50.00 price objective for the company. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Digital has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $66.50.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company's fifty day moving average price is $27.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $32.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.69 billion, a PE ratio of -29.64 and a beta of 5.72.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD - Get Free Report) last released 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 during 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%. Applied Digital's revenue for the quarter was up 406.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.24) earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independent Advisor Alliance grew its holdings in Applied Digital by 4.6% during the 4th quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,215 shares of the company's stock worth $226,000 after acquiring an additional 407 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Applied Digital by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the company's stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the company's stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares in the last quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 29.4% during the first quarter. Vermillion Wealth Management Inc. now owns 2,563 shares of the company's stock worth $61,000 after purchasing an additional 583 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Handelsbanken Fonder AB grew its stake in Applied Digital by 1.0% in the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 71,600 shares of the company's stock worth $2,671,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company's stock.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation NASDAQ: APLD develops and operates digital infrastructure designed to support high-performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and other compute-intensive applications. The company provides data center capacity and related services to customers that require substantial computing power, connectivity and energy resources.

The company's facilities are designed to support advanced computing workloads, including AI model development, cloud computing and digital asset-related applications.

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.