Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Shares Down 1.8% – Should You Sell?

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) shares were down 1.8% on Monday. The stock traded as low as $23.06 and last traded at $23.25. Approximately 14,505,166 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 37% from the average daily volume of 22,843,420 shares. The stock had previously closed at $23.68.

Key Stories Impacting Applied Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Applied Digital reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 revenue of approximately $341.9 million, up 322% year over year. The company also has about $36 billion in contracted revenue and plans to bring more than 600 megawatts online over the next 12 months, supporting its long-term growth story. Applied Digital latest update
• Positive Sentiment: Northland Securities maintained an Outperform rating and an $82 price target, suggesting substantial potential upside if Applied Digital successfully executes its expansion plans. Applied Digital analyst coverage
• Neutral Sentiment: The company’s planned Finland expansion and accelerated power-capacity buildout could strengthen its AI infrastructure position, but investors are focused on how quickly new facilities can become operational and generate cash flow. What Could Derail Applied Digital Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Despite strong revenue growth, Applied Digital posted a much wider GAAP net loss of $237.1 million. Data centers require major upfront capital before tenants pay, raising concerns about cash needs, debt and possible shareholder dilution. Applied Digital expansion financing
• Negative Sentiment: Northland reduced its projected EPS for fiscal 2027 to a loss of $1.50 per share from a loss of $0.44, while lowering quarterly forecasts as well. Although the firm retained its bullish rating, the estimate cuts reinforce concerns that profitability may remain distant.
• Negative Sentiment: Broader AI data-center stocks are weakening after Cipher Digital’s $850 million zero-coupon convertible-note financing highlighted the sector’s dependence on expensive capital markets. That financing and dilution concern is weighing on Applied Digital by association. AI data-center stocks decline

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

APLD has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Northland Securities set a $82.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 17th. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $22.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reduced their price target on shares of Applied Digital from $83.00 to $70.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $62.25.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $26.70 and a 200-day moving average price of $32.44. 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 has a market cap of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.40 and a beta of 5.99.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analysts’ expectations of $116.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned ($0.03) EPS. Applied Digital’s revenue was up 367.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Applied Digital Corporation will post -1.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total value of $2,336,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 133,378 shares in the company, valued at $4,154,724.70. The trade was a 35.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and 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 valued at $319,978,000 after purchasing an additional 2,139,378 shares in the last quarter. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC bought a new stake in shares of Applied Digital during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $312,349,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC acquired a new position in Applied Digital during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,510,000. Sei Investments Co. increased its position in Applied Digital by 33.0% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,093,701 shares of the company’s stock worth $25,964,000 after purchasing an additional 271,618 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Applied Digital by 32.7% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 581,255 shares of the company’s stock worth $21,681,000 after purchasing an additional 143,308 shares in the last quarter. 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, artificial intelligence and other data-intensive applications. The company provides data-center capacity and related services to customers that require substantial computing power and electricity.

The company’s business has included hosting infrastructure for cryptocurrency-mining operations and, increasingly, developing facilities for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads.