Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Lowered to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 28th, 2026

Zacks Research lowered shares of Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD – Free Report) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

APLD has been the topic of a number of other research reports. Lucid Cap Mkts raised Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. B. Riley Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $75.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Craig Hallum increased their price objective on shares of Applied Digital from $75.00 to $79.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 9th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Lake Street Capital boosted their target price on shares of Applied Digital from $70.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 9th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Applied Digital presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $68.15.

Read Our Latest Analysis on APLD

Applied Digital Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of APLD opened at $27.44 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $31.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $33.42. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, a quick ratio of 4.01 and a current ratio of 4.01. Applied Digital has a 1 year low of $13.16 and a 1 year high of $50.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $8.00 billion, a PE ratio of -30.83 and a beta of 5.75.

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 75,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.15, for a total transaction of $2,336,250.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 133,378 shares of the company’s stock, 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 filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 9.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Applied Digital by 84.8% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 18,945 shares of the company’s stock valued at $106,000 after acquiring an additional 8,692 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 239.1% during the 1st quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 33,267 shares of the company’s stock worth $187,000 after purchasing an additional 23,457 shares during the period. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Applied Digital by 113.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 6,667 shares of the company’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 3,542 shares in the last quarter. Strs Ohio acquired a new position in Applied Digital during the first quarter worth about $71,000. Finally, Cetera Investment Advisers increased its holdings in Applied Digital by 61.0% in the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 61,656 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after buying an additional 23,360 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Applied Digital Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) is a technology company specializing in the development and operation of large-scale digital infrastructure and sustainable Bitcoin mining solutions. Through its integrated platform, the company designs, builds and manages turnkey data center facilities while also providing comprehensive hosting services for cloud, colocation and enterprise computing needs. Applied Digital’s modular approach to facility design enables rapid deployment of capacity and streamlined integration of power, cooling and network connectivity.

In addition to its data center business, Applied Digital operates a network of Bitcoin mining sites that leverage vertically integrated capabilities, including hardware procurement, mining farm engineering, energy management and real-time performance monitoring.