Applied Digital Faces AI Opportunities and Challenges
Written by Emily J. Thompson, Senior Investment Analyst
Updated: Mar 16 2026
0mins
Should l Buy APLD?
Source: NASDAQ.COM
- Financing and Valuation Pressure: Applied Digital is pursuing a massive AI opportunity, yet the financing and valuation pressures could expose the hidden fragility behind one of the market's most talked-about AI infrastructure stocks, necessitating cautious risk-reward assessments by investors.
- Market Performance Comparison: As of March 7, 2026, Applied Digital's stock price did not make it to The Motley Fool Stock Advisor's list of the top 10 stocks, which are expected to yield substantial returns in the coming years, indicating a competitive disadvantage for Applied Digital.
- Historical Return References: For instance, Netflix and Nvidia were featured in The Motley Fool Stock Advisor's recommendations, and if $1,000 had been invested at the time of their recommendations, it would now be worth $514,000 and $1,105,029 respectively, highlighting the potential high returns of recommended stocks.
- Investor Community Engagement: Although Applied Digital did not make the best stocks list, The Motley Fool Stock Advisor continues to attract a large number of investors, providing a community built by individual investors to help identify future investment opportunities.
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Analyst Views on APLD
Wall Street analysts forecast APLD stock price to rise
10 Analyst Rating
10 Buy
0 Hold
0 Sell
Strong Buy
Current: 23.760
Low
36.00
Averages
52.22
High
99.00
Current: 23.760
Low
36.00
Averages
52.22
High
99.00
About APLD
Applied Digital Corporation is a designer, builder, and operator of sustainably engineered data centers and colocation services for artificial intelligence, cloud, networking, and blockchain workloads. The Company’s segments include data center hosting (Data Center Hosting Business) and high-performance compute hosting (HPC Hosting Business). The Data Center Hosting Business operates data centers to provide energized space to crypto mining customers. Customer-owned hardware is installed in its facilities, and the Company provides operational and maintenance services for a fixed fee. Its facilities include a 106 megawatt (MW) facility in Jamestown and a 180 MW facility in Ellendale, North Dakota. The HPC Hosting Business designs, builds, and operates data centers which are designed to support high-compute applications using advanced technologies and infrastructures to provide services to customers. Its HPC data center is located at its Polaris Forge 1 campus with 100 MW capacity.
About the author
Emily J. Thompson
Emily J. Thompson, a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) with 12 years in investment research, graduated with honors from the Wharton School. Specializing in industrial and technology stocks, she provides in-depth analysis for Intellectia’s earnings and market brief reports.
Applied Digital Stock Soars 286% Over Past Year, Attracts Attention
- Stock Performance: As of March 23, Applied Digital's stock has surged 286% over the past year, nearly quadrupling in value, indicating strong market performance and significant investor interest.
- Market Value and Financing Plans: The company currently has a market value of approximately $7.5 billion and plans to borrow around $2.15 billion to build its Polaris Forge 2 AI campus, demonstrating strong confidence in future growth and commitment to infrastructure investment.
- Financial Status: In its latest earnings report, Applied Digital reported a 250% year-over-year revenue increase to $126.6 million in the second quarter, despite a net loss of $31.2 million, which is smaller than the previous year's loss, indicating signs of business improvement.
- Business Restructuring Impact: The company plans to spin off its cloud computing business and merge it with EKSO Bionics Holdings to create a new entity called ChronoScale, which may throttle near-term revenue growth but will help stabilize margins, reflecting a long-term strategic vision.
See More
Applied Digital's Rapid Growth and Investment Outlook
- Stock Surge: Applied Digital's stock has nearly quadrupled in value over the past year, with a 286% increase, indicating strong market recognition of its demand in the AI and high-performance computing sectors.
- Significant Revenue Growth: The company reported a 250% year-over-year revenue increase in Q2, reaching $126.6 million, although it still faced a net loss of $31.2 million, which is smaller than the previous year's loss, suggesting potential business improvement.
- Infrastructure Investment: Applied Digital plans to borrow approximately $2.15 billion to build the Polaris Forge 2 AI campus, with a market value of around $7.5 billion, reflecting the company's strong confidence in future growth.
- Business Restructuring Impact: The company announced a spin-off of its cloud computing business to merge with EKSO Bionics Holdings, which may throttle near-term revenue growth but is expected to stabilize margins, highlighting the necessity of its strategic adjustments.
See More
Applied Digital Secures $2.15 Billion AI Financing Deal
- Significant Financing: Applied Digital has raised $2.15 billion through a high-yield bond offering to develop 200 megawatts of data center capacity at its Polaris Forge 2 facility in North Dakota, providing robust funding support for its infrastructure expansion.
- Long-Term Contract Assurance: The company has leased this capacity to Oracle for approximately 15 years, expected to generate about $5 billion in revenue, ensuring the project's sustainability and profitability.
- Substantial Market Opportunity: Management highlighted that hyperscaler spending on AI infrastructure exceeds $400 billion annually, and Applied Digital's early positioning in North Dakota allows it to leverage cost-effective energy and ample land for expansion, capturing market opportunities.
- Risks and Challenges: Despite successful financing, Applied Digital faces high execution risks and customer concentration risks, with future growth heavily reliant on timely project delivery, as any delays could adversely affect the company's overall profitability.
See More
AI Spending Surge: CoreWeave vs. Applied Digital Growth Prospects
- CoreWeave Revenue Surge: In 2025, CoreWeave's revenue skyrocketed by 168% to over $5.1 billion, reflecting strong demand in the AI cloud infrastructure market, with expectations for continued high growth in the coming years.
- Significant Customer Growth: CoreWeave added nearly twice as many long-term customers in Q4 compared to its best previous quarters, with the number of clients spending over $1 million annually increasing by nearly 150%, indicating rapid market penetration and customer base expansion.
- Applied Digital Lease Revenue Outlook: The 400-megawatt data center under development by Applied Digital is expected to generate approximately $11 billion in lease revenue over 15 years, with the first 100 megawatts already operational, showcasing its long-term revenue potential.
- Market Competition and Risks: While CoreWeave anticipates capital expenditures of $30 billion to $35 billion in 2026, potentially leading to short-term margin compression, its robust revenue growth and strong backlog make it more attractive in the coming years.
See More
CoreWeave and Applied Digital's Market Prospects
- Robust Contract Backlog: CoreWeave's backlog reached $66.8 billion at the end of 2025, indicating strong revenue visibility for the future, with projected revenue growth of 142.5% to $12.4 billion in 2026, highlighting its leadership in the AI cloud infrastructure market.
- Rapid Customer Growth: CoreWeave added nearly twice as many long-term customers in Q4 compared to its best previous quarters, with the number of customers spending over $1 million annually increasing by nearly 150% in 2025, which will further enhance its market competitiveness and revenue stability.
- Stable Revenue for Applied Digital: The 400-megawatt data center campus being developed by Applied Digital is expected to generate approximately $11 billion in lease revenue over 15 years, with the first 100 megawatts already operational, showcasing the revenue potential of its long-term contracts.
- Future Growth Potential: Despite facing capital expenditure risks of up to $35 billion, CoreWeave's strong revenue growth and stable pricing power position it for significant investment returns in the coming years, especially as AI demand continues to rise.
See More
Market Potential Analysis: Comparing Nebius, IREN, and Applied Digital
- Market Valuation Comparison: As of March 13, 2026, Nebius was priced at $3.69, IREN at $0.72, and Applied Digital at $2.73, highlighting significant valuation differences that could lead to investor misjudgments when selecting stocks.
- Momentum and Risk Assessment: The video analyzes the performance of these three companies in terms of market momentum and potential risks, emphasizing that Nebius may outperform the others in the long term, despite current market expectations being conservative.
- Identifying Long-term Winners: By comparing the market performances of these companies, the video identifies potential long-term winners, particularly Nebius, which, while facing short-term volatility, shows strong growth potential based on its fundamentals.
- Investor Focus Points: The video advises investors to pay attention to the gap between market sentiment and fundamentals, stressing the importance of analyzing the relationship between company potential and market hype when selecting investment targets.
See More
Applied Digital Stock Soars 286% Over Past Year, Attracts Attention
- Stock Performance: As of March 23, Applied Digital's stock has surged 286% over the past year, nearly quadrupling in value, indicating strong market performance and significant investor interest.
- Market Value and Financing Plans: The company currently has a market value of approximately $7.5 billion and plans to borrow around $2.15 billion to build its Polaris Forge 2 AI campus, demonstrating strong confidence in future growth and commitment to infrastructure investment.
- Financial Status: In its latest earnings report, Applied Digital reported a 250% year-over-year revenue increase to $126.6 million in the second quarter, despite a net loss of $31.2 million, which is smaller than the previous year's loss, indicating signs of business improvement.
- Business Restructuring Impact: The company plans to spin off its cloud computing business and merge it with EKSO Bionics Holdings to create a new entity called ChronoScale, which may throttle near-term revenue growth but will help stabilize margins, reflecting a long-term strategic vision.
See More
Applied Digital's Rapid Growth and Investment Outlook
- Stock Surge: Applied Digital's stock has nearly quadrupled in value over the past year, with a 286% increase, indicating strong market recognition of its demand in the AI and high-performance computing sectors.
- Significant Revenue Growth: The company reported a 250% year-over-year revenue increase in Q2, reaching $126.6 million, although it still faced a net loss of $31.2 million, which is smaller than the previous year's loss, suggesting potential business improvement.
- Infrastructure Investment: Applied Digital plans to borrow approximately $2.15 billion to build the Polaris Forge 2 AI campus, with a market value of around $7.5 billion, reflecting the company's strong confidence in future growth.
- Business Restructuring Impact: The company announced a spin-off of its cloud computing business to merge with EKSO Bionics Holdings, which may throttle near-term revenue growth but is expected to stabilize margins, highlighting the necessity of its strategic adjustments.
See More
Applied Digital Secures $2.15 Billion AI Financing Deal
- Significant Financing: Applied Digital has raised $2.15 billion through a high-yield bond offering to develop 200 megawatts of data center capacity at its Polaris Forge 2 facility in North Dakota, providing robust funding support for its infrastructure expansion.
- Long-Term Contract Assurance: The company has leased this capacity to Oracle for approximately 15 years, expected to generate about $5 billion in revenue, ensuring the project's sustainability and profitability.
- Substantial Market Opportunity: Management highlighted that hyperscaler spending on AI infrastructure exceeds $400 billion annually, and Applied Digital's early positioning in North Dakota allows it to leverage cost-effective energy and ample land for expansion, capturing market opportunities.
- Risks and Challenges: Despite successful financing, Applied Digital faces high execution risks and customer concentration risks, with future growth heavily reliant on timely project delivery, as any delays could adversely affect the company's overall profitability.
See More
AI Spending Surge: CoreWeave vs. Applied Digital Growth Prospects
- CoreWeave Revenue Surge: In 2025, CoreWeave's revenue skyrocketed by 168% to over $5.1 billion, reflecting strong demand in the AI cloud infrastructure market, with expectations for continued high growth in the coming years.
- Significant Customer Growth: CoreWeave added nearly twice as many long-term customers in Q4 compared to its best previous quarters, with the number of clients spending over $1 million annually increasing by nearly 150%, indicating rapid market penetration and customer base expansion.
- Applied Digital Lease Revenue Outlook: The 400-megawatt data center under development by Applied Digital is expected to generate approximately $11 billion in lease revenue over 15 years, with the first 100 megawatts already operational, showcasing its long-term revenue potential.
- Market Competition and Risks: While CoreWeave anticipates capital expenditures of $30 billion to $35 billion in 2026, potentially leading to short-term margin compression, its robust revenue growth and strong backlog make it more attractive in the coming years.
See More
CoreWeave and Applied Digital's Market Prospects
- Robust Contract Backlog: CoreWeave's backlog reached $66.8 billion at the end of 2025, indicating strong revenue visibility for the future, with projected revenue growth of 142.5% to $12.4 billion in 2026, highlighting its leadership in the AI cloud infrastructure market.
- Rapid Customer Growth: CoreWeave added nearly twice as many long-term customers in Q4 compared to its best previous quarters, with the number of customers spending over $1 million annually increasing by nearly 150% in 2025, which will further enhance its market competitiveness and revenue stability.
- Stable Revenue for Applied Digital: The 400-megawatt data center campus being developed by Applied Digital is expected to generate approximately $11 billion in lease revenue over 15 years, with the first 100 megawatts already operational, showcasing the revenue potential of its long-term contracts.
- Future Growth Potential: Despite facing capital expenditure risks of up to $35 billion, CoreWeave's strong revenue growth and stable pricing power position it for significant investment returns in the coming years, especially as AI demand continues to rise.
See More
Market Potential Analysis: Comparing Nebius, IREN, and Applied Digital
- Market Valuation Comparison: As of March 13, 2026, Nebius was priced at $3.69, IREN at $0.72, and Applied Digital at $2.73, highlighting significant valuation differences that could lead to investor misjudgments when selecting stocks.
- Momentum and Risk Assessment: The video analyzes the performance of these three companies in terms of market momentum and potential risks, emphasizing that Nebius may outperform the others in the long term, despite current market expectations being conservative.
- Identifying Long-term Winners: By comparing the market performances of these companies, the video identifies potential long-term winners, particularly Nebius, which, while facing short-term volatility, shows strong growth potential based on its fundamentals.
- Investor Focus Points: The video advises investors to pay attention to the gap between market sentiment and fundamentals, stressing the importance of analyzing the relationship between company potential and market hype when selecting investment targets.
See More
