Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Up 6.6% After Analyst Upgrade

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD)’s stock price rose 6.6% on Friday after Wells Fargo & Company upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating. The stock traded as high as $28.30 and last traded at $28.12. Approximately 23,661,496 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, an increase of 3% from the average session volume of 22,916,959 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.38.

A number of other analysts also recently weighed in on the company. Craig Hallum boosted their target price on Applied Digital from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Northland Securities set a $82.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Sunday, August 30th. Four 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $66.50.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of Applied Digital 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 completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 133,378 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,154,724.70. The trade was a 35.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Applied Digital News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo initiated coverage of APLD with an Overweight rating and named it a top idea. The firm highlighted approximately 1.4 gigawatts of contracted capacity, a power-advantaged data-center footprint, backlog quality, and what it viewed as a valuation discount. Wells Fargo initiates Applied Digital coverage
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo also upgraded Applied Digital to “strong buy,” reinforcing the bullish analyst sentiment and helping drive renewed investor interest in the stock. Applied Digital upgraded by Wells Fargo
• Positive Sentiment: A bullish Seeking Alpha analysis reiterated a Strong Buy rating and a $70 price target. The article cited 1,410 megawatts of contracted IT load across five campuses, representing an estimated $36 billion in initial 15-year lease revenue, along with fourth-quarter adjusted EBITDA of $42.4 million and adjusted net income of $12.9 million. Applied Digital: A Risky Play With Material Upside
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader AI-capacity trade also supported Applied Digital as previously oversold data-center names rebounded. However, the move was described as occurring without new company-specific developments, indicating that sentiment and sector flows were important factors. Applied Digital and TeraWulf rebound
• Negative Sentiment: Co-founder and insider Martin McCarthy sold 49,188 shares worth approximately $1.3 million, reducing his direct stake by about 2%. The sale is modest relative to his remaining holdings but may raise caution about insider conviction. Applied Digital co-founder share sale

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Situational Awareness LP boosted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 18.9% in the 1st quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 13,478,438 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,978,000 after buying an additional 2,139,378 shares during the last quarter. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new position in Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $312,349,000. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 6,285,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $154,151,000 after buying an additional 304,228 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC bought a new stake in Applied Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,510,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,093,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,964,000 after buying an additional 271,618 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Digital Stock Up 6.6%

The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a current ratio of 4.01 and a quick ratio of 4.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $8.20 billion, a PE ratio of -31.60 and a beta of 5.72.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, July 27th. The company reported ($0.39) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.30). The company had revenue of $240.35 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $96.85 million. Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 37.78% and a negative return on equity of 16.42%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 406.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.24) EPS. Analysts forecast that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.