Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Climb 7.5% – What’s Next?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) was up 7.5% during mid-day trading on Monday. The company traded as high as $16.94 and last traded at $16.72. 22,007,817 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 6% from the average daily volume of 23,384,209 shares. The stock had previously closed at $15.55.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on APLD. Needham & Company LLC lowered their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 26th. Roth Capital set a $35.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price objective (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial dropped their price objective on Applied Digital from $75.00 to $51.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $56.42.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The stock has a market cap of $5.06 billion, a P/E ratio of -10.20 and a beta of 5.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90, a current ratio of 2.56 and a quick ratio of 2.56. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $22.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.85.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.30) by $0.29. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 51.28% and a negative return on equity of 27.21%. The company had revenue of $300.39 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $116.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 367.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -2.17 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Wes Cummins purchased 55,803 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $18.04 per share, for a total transaction of $1,006,686.12. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer directly owned 5,874,453 shares in the company, valued at approximately $105,975,132.12. This trade represents a 0.96% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 31,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total value of $682,500.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 102,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,475.52. This represents a 23.43% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Applied Digital

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLD. FNY Investment Advisers LLC acquired a new position in Applied Digital during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $37,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 244.3% in the first quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,205 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 855 shares during the last quarter. Ancora Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the second quarter valued at approximately $56,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 691.8% in the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,536 shares of the company’s stock worth $57,000 after purchasing an additional 1,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Applied Digital by 28.5% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 464 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 develops, builds and operates data centers designed for high-density computing. Its facilities support digital asset mining as well as high-performance computing workloads, including artificial intelligence applications, and the company provides hosting and infrastructure services to customers in these sectors.

The company also offers cloud services that give customers access to computing capacity for demanding workloads. Its data center operations are focused in the United States, including facilities in North Dakota.

Previously known as Applied Blockchain, the company adopted the Applied Digital name in 2023 to reflect its broader digital infrastructure business.