Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Jumps 9.7% – Here’s Why

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s stock price was up 9.7% on Friday. The stock traded as high as $15.80 and last traded at $15.55. 34,219,526 shares were traded during trading, an increase of 46% from the average daily volume of 23,376,750 shares. The stock had previously closed at $14.17.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: APLD participated in a broader data-center stock rebound after a rival said its targeted annualized revenue of more than $4 billion was fully funded. The news may have improved sentiment toward the sector, though Applied Digital still needs to secure financing for roughly 800 megawatts of planned capacity over the next 12 months. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital’s CEO was reported to have bought company shares after the stock’s decline, a potential signal of confidence from an insider. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: The company held its 2026 annual stockholder meeting; the brief announcement did not describe a major new business development. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: The rebound follows a roughly 39% decline over the past month and a 40.6% drop since its latest earnings report, as investors have sold off AI data-center and infrastructure stocks. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about a proposed Texas pause on new data-center approvals intensified the sector selloff, even though Applied Digital’s signed leases are outside Texas. The episode highlights regulatory risk and broad investor sensitivity to data-center projects. Read More.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLD has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Applied Digital from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Monday, October 19th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $57.75.

Applied Digital Price Performance

The stock has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of -9.48 and a beta of 5.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.56, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.92 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.85.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.29. Applied Digital had a negative return on equity of 27.21% and a negative net margin of 51.28%. The company had revenue of $300.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.29 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted ($0.03) EPS. Applied Digital’s revenue was up 367.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Applied Digital Corporation will post -2.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 31,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $682,500.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 102,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,475.52. This trade represents a 23.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Wes Cummins purchased 55,803 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was bought at an average price of $18.04 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,686.12. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 5,874,453 shares in the company, valued at $105,975,132.12. The trade was a 0.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this purchase are available in the official SEC disclosure. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in Applied Digital by 19.6% during the third quarter. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System now owns 16,146 shares of the company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,647 shares during the last quarter. Jacobi Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Applied Digital in the 3rd quarter valued at about $126,000. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its position in Applied Digital by 203.3% during the third quarter. International Private Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 49,674 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 33,298 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 67.9% during the 3rd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 60,058 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,464,000 after acquiring an additional 24,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ethic Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 61.8% during the third quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 18,104 shares of the company’s stock worth $441,000 after purchasing an additional 6,915 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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

Its business includes high-performance computing data centers and cloud services intended to support artificial intelligence, machine learning, cryptocurrency mining and other compute-intensive workloads.