Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Stock Price Down 2.3% – Here’s What Happened

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Oct 26th, 2026

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD – Get Free Report)’s stock price fell 2.3% on Monday. The company traded as low as $17.50 and last traded at $17.83. 26,291,950 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 14% from the average daily volume of 23,129,063 shares. The stock had previously closed at $18.25.

Key Applied Digital News

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

Positive Sentiment: Insider buying provides some support. Applied Digital co-founders reportedly purchased approximately $6.7 million of the company’s shares as the stock approached a one-year low, signaling confidence in the long-term AI infrastructure opportunity. Applied Digital Co-Founders Snap Up Shares
Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain highly optimistic. One analyst continues to project nearly 390% upside, based on the potential for Applied Digital to become a major provider of AI data-center capacity. The bullish view follows the company’s strongest quarter to date, including sharply higher revenue and better-than-expected earnings. Applied Digital Analyst Upside Outlook
Neutral Sentiment: Short-interest data is inconclusive. A report described a significant increase in short interest but listed total short interest at zero shares and days to cover at zero, suggesting the data may be inaccurate or not meaningful for assessing current trading pressure.
Negative Sentiment: Funding concerns are driving sector-wide selling. Elon Musk warned that debt markets are close to shutting off financing for AI data centers and predicted that some facilities could remain unfinished. The comments intensified concerns about Applied Digital’s debt-heavy expansion model and pushed neocloud and AI-infrastructure stocks lower. Elon Musk Warning Sends Neocloud Stocks Lower
Negative Sentiment: Strong growth has not eliminated execution and valuation risks. Although revenue surged more than 300% year over year, Applied Digital remains unprofitable, highly leveraged and dependent on continued access to capital. The stock’s sharp monthly decline reflects fears that higher interest rates and tighter credit could delay data-center construction or reduce returns on new projects. Applied Digital Monthly Stock Decline Analysis

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have issued reports on APLD shares. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research report on Monday, October 19th. Zacks Research cut shares of Applied Digital from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 26th. Roth Capital set a $35.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $55.00 price target (up from $50.00) on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Applied Digital from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Sunday, August 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.75.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Applied Digital

Applied Digital Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.90, a quick ratio of 2.56 and a current ratio of 2.56. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $25.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $32.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.39 billion, a PE ratio of -10.87 and a beta of 5.99.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD – Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 7th. The company reported ($0.01) earnings per share (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 net margin of 51.28% and a negative return on equity of 27.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 367.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.03) earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Applied Digital Corporation will post -2.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Applied Digital

In other news, CEO Wes Cummins bought 55,803 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $18.04 per share, with a total value of $1,006,686.12. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 5,874,453 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $105,975,132.12. The trade was a 0.96% increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Jason Gechen Zhang purchased 300,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $18.86 per share, with a total value of $5,658,000.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the president directly owned 2,839,227 shares in the company, valued at $53,547,821.22. The trade was a 11.81% increase in their position. The SEC filing for this purchase provides additional information. Insiders own 9.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Applied Digital

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Applied Digital by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 2,092 shares of the company’s stock worth $78,000 after purchasing an additional 464 shares during the last quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC lifted its stake in Applied Digital by 4.1% during the second quarter. Krilogy Financial LLC now owns 14,243 shares of the company’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 561 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Applied Digital by 4.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,333 shares of the company’s stock valued at $497,000 after purchasing an additional 596 shares during the last quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its holdings in Applied Digital by 1.0% during the second quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 71,600 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,671,000 after buying an additional 700 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valeo Financial Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Applied Digital by 6.7% during the third quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 12,343 shares of the company’s stock worth $301,000 after buying an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. 65.67% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Applied Digital Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.

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