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

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

Key Applied Digital News

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.

Analyst Ratings Changes

APLD has been the subject of several research reports. Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $22.00 price objective on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Roth Capital set a $35.00 target price on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $55.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, October 8th. Citigroup reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, B. Riley Financial reduced 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 investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Applied Digital has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $57.75.

Applied Digital Stock Performance

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 has a market capitalization of $4.70 billion, a PE ratio of -9.48 and a beta of 5.58. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $23.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.94.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Applied Digital news, President Jason Gechen Zhang purchased 300,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.86 per share, for a total transaction of $5,658,000.00. Following the acquisition, the president owned 2,839,227 shares in the company, valued at $53,547,821.22. This trade represents a 11.81% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 31,250 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.84, for a total transaction of $682,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 102,128 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,230,475.52. The trade was a 23.43% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of APLD. Situational Awareness LP boosted its stake in Applied Digital by 14.1% during the second quarter. Situational Awareness LP now owns 15,384,616 shares of the company’s stock worth $574,000 after buying an additional 1,906,178 shares during the last quarter. Equitec Proprietary Markets LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Applied Digital in the 2nd quarter worth $312,349,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC raised its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 6.2% during the 1st quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,240,239 shares of the company’s stock worth $28,377,000 after acquiring an additional 72,460 shares during the period. Sei Investments Co. grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 33.0% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 1,093,701 shares of the company’s stock valued at $25,964,000 after purchasing an additional 271,618 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 318.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 785,152 shares of the company’s stock valued at $18,638,000 after purchasing an additional 597,548 shares during the period. 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 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.