Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Gap Up After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) gapped up prior to trading on Thursday after Needham & Company LLC raised their price target on the stock to $66.00. The stock had previously closed at $39.52, but opened at $42.37. Needham & Company LLC currently has a buy rating on the stock. Applied Digital shares last traded at $45.6330, with a volume of 9,089,938 shares.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $65.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Friday, April 24th. Zacks Research raised Applied Digital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Northland Securities set a $56.00 price target on Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $46.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $34.59, for a total value of $432,375.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 208,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,207,795.02. This represents a 5.66% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Douglas S. Miller sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $34.98, for a total value of $349,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 184,859 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,466,367.82. The trade was a 5.13% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 35,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,182,175 over the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Applied Digital News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Applied Digital this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital announced a landmark $7.5 billion long-term lease with a U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler, a deal that materially improves revenue visibility and strengthens the case for the company’s AI data center expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Needham & Company raised its price target on Applied Digital from $51 to $66 and reiterated a buy rating, signaling confidence that the new contract and AI infrastructure demand can support further upside. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage highlighted Applied Digital’s expanding AI hosting and hyperscale footprint versus peers, reinforcing the view that the company is becoming a more important AI infrastructure provider. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: After-hours trading commentary and multiple headlines on May 20 suggest the stock was already reacting to the lease announcement, but these items largely repeat the same catalyst rather than add new fundamentals. Article Title

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 36.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 24,168,082 shares of the company’s stock valued at $592,601,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445,908 shares in the last quarter. Value Aligned Research Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 4th quarter worth approximately $138,380,000. Situational Awareness LP grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 87.0% in the 4th quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 11,339,060 shares of the company’s stock worth $278,034,000 after buying an additional 5,274,905 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets grew its stake 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 worth $52,561,000 after buying an additional 5,198,223 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Marex Group plc increased its position in Applied Digital by 38,484.6% during the 4th quarter. Marex Group plc now owns 3,904,759 shares of the company’s stock valued at $95,745,000 after buying an additional 3,894,639 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Trading Up 16.5%

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $31.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $30.67. The company has a market cap of $13.16 billion, a P/E ratio of -62.65 and a beta of 5.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.65, a quick ratio of 2.38 and a current ratio of 2.38.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its 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 return on equity of 15.91% and a negative net margin of 52.84%.The company had revenue of $108.55 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $78.47 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted ($0.08) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 139.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -0.61 earnings per share for the current year.

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.