Applied Digital Corporation designs, develops, and operates digital infrastructure solutions for the high-performance computing (HPC) and artificial intelligence industries in North America. It operates through two segments: Data Center Hosting and HPC Hosting Business. The company provides energized infrastructure services to crypto mining customers and cloud services to customers such as AI and machine learning developers. It also designs, constructs, and operates data centers that supply computing power and support HPC applications. Formerly known as Applied Blockchain, Inc., it changed its name to Applied Digital Corporation in November 2022 and is based in Dallas, Texas.
AI Data Centers Turn to Industrial Boilers and Steam Turbines as Gas Turbine Backlog Stretches to 2032
Data center developers are turning to industrial boilers paired with steam turbines to power AI facilities as gas turbine lead times stretch as far as 2032. Applied Digital, a data center developer and operator, has ordered 1.2 GW of steam turbines fed by gas-fired industrial boilers for a data center under construction in North Dakota, with two more facilities being finalized, and the first scheduled to begin operation late in 2028. Chairman and CEO Wes Cummins said orders for gas turbines placed today might not be delivered until 2032, and the company signed a $2.4 billion design/build agreement for the project in conjunction with independent power producer Base Electron. Rentech Boiler Systems of Abilene, Texas, can manufacture and deliver a packaged boiler within a year of receiving an order, according to Gerardo Lara, the company's vice president of Boiler Sales, who said its models are best suited for steam turbines ranging from 10 MW to 20 MW while modularized designs can accommodate turbines up to 50 MW. GE Vernova has reported more than 100 GW of orders and slot reservations, and suppliers including Siemens Energy, Solar Turbines, and Mitsubishi Power report similar delays. Global Market Insights predicts the steam turbine market will grow by almost three times between 2025 and 2034, with the industrial boiler market expected to follow a similar trajectory.
IREN's $25B-$30B CapEx Plan Raises Funding Questions
IREN Limited is entering fiscal year 2027 with a capital expenditure plan of $25 billion to $30 billion, far exceeding its current revenue base, as it shifts from Bitcoin mining to AI cloud services. The company has about $14 billion in existing cash, committed GPU financing, and customer prepayments, including $7.6 billion in cash as of June 30, with $1.7 billion restricted for Microsoft-related GPU spending. Management targets an additional $8 billion in GPU financing and prepayments, having already raised $3.6 billion for the Microsoft contract at a weighted average rate of about 6% and $2.8 billion in equipment financing for other deployments. Customer prepayments cover 45%-55% of GPU capex, and with roughly 90% GPU financing on some deals, excess funding may support data center spending. IREN targets 0.3 GW of IT capacity in 2026 and 0.8 GW in 2027, with over 5 GW of announced pipeline, and has $4 billion in annualized run-rate revenues contracted for 2026 capacity, with $1 billion operating currently. Peers are also ramping up funding: CoreWeave added a $2.6 billion delayed-draw term loan on Aug. 7, 2026, following earlier $8.5 billion and $3.1 billion loans, while Applied Digital closed $1.59 billion of 7% secured notes for 150 MW at Polaris Forge 1 and $2.15 billion for 200 MW at Polaris Forge 2, with its revolver rising to $430 million. IREN shares have declined 1.7% year-to-date, trading at 3.69X forward P/S versus the industry average of 2.58X, and estimates for fiscal 2027 and 2028 earnings have been revised downward, though the company is expected to report a profit next fiscal year.
Dan Loeb's Third Point bets on Bitcoin miners pivoting to AI
Billionaire investor Dan Loeb's hedge fund, Third Point, has revealed new and increased stakes in four Bitcoin miners pivoting to artificial intelligence, as well as Jack Dorsey's Block, according to its second-quarter 2026 13F filing with the SEC. Third Point raised its stake in Hut 8 to $151.8 million and opened positions in Riot Platforms worth $7 million, Core Scientific worth $1.38 million, and Applied Digital Corp. worth $820,000, while also investing $194.47 million in Block. The miners have signed massive AI deals, including Applied Digital's $5.2 billion lease with a hyperscaler, Hut 8's $9.8 billion lease for its Texas data center, Core Scientific's agreement with AMD for over 500 megawatts, and Riot Platforms' $9.1 billion deal with Anthropic. Block, which laid off over 4,000 employees due to AI integration, reported second-quarter revenue of $6.62 billion and EPS of $1.02, beating estimates. The filing signals Loeb's diversification into crypto companies now focusing on AI.
IREN Limited's $638.8 million impairment on obsolete mining hardware sent its shares down 13% to $35.28, dragging down AI data center pure plays Applied Digital, TeraWulf, and Core Scientific by 7% each, while the Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF fell only 1%. The impairment, tied to older mining equipment, produced a fiscal 2026 net loss of $702.6 million against an $86.9 million profit a year earlier, despite total revenue rising 41.1% to $707 million and AI Cloud revenue climbing to $128.8 million from $16.4 million. IREN closed the year with $7.62 billion in cash and equivalents, and management targets $4 billion of annualized revenue by year end. Applied Digital, which has $36 billion in contracted long-term lease value across five campuses and placed $1.59 billion of 7% senior secured notes, trades at a forward P/E of 526x, while IREN's forward P/E is 137x, leaving little cushion when a peer books a nine-figure writedown. The selling is concentrated in capital-intensive operators, sparing broader data center exposure, with Applied Digital's next earnings report expected around October 7 as the next catalyst.
TeraWulf and Applied Digital Surge on NVIDIA's Strong Guidance
TeraWulf and Applied Digital shares jumped Thursday morning, with TeraWulf up 6% to $16.90 and Applied Digital up 5% to $28.12, following NVIDIA's blowout earnings and forward guidance that reignited the AI compute trade. NVIDIA reported Q2 FY2027 revenue of $96.2 billion, beating the $92.1 billion consensus, and guided Q3 to $108 billion, which would mark its first quarter above $100 billion. CFO Colette Kress also projected 70% revenue growth for fiscal 2028 and noted the company remains supply constrained, a signal that contracted power and hosting capacity are becoming scarcer and more valuable. The moves in TeraWulf and Applied Digital, both high-beta proxies with betas of 4.3 and 5.8 respectively, contrast with the Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF, which rose only 0.8%, indicating a targeted bid for operators with contracted AI capacity rather than the broad sector. Peer IREN Limited also sits in the same read-across bucket with its NVIDIA cloud partnership.
Applied Digital Shares Up 8.4% Since Q4 Earnings Beat
Applied Digital Corporation's shares have risen 8.4% since its fiscal fourth-quarter earnings report, outperforming the S&P 500. The company reported a loss of 39 cents per share, wider than the Zacks Consensus Estimate of an 18-cent loss, but revenues surged 407% year over year to $258.7 million, beating estimates. The HPC Hosting Business contributed $203 million in revenues, including $152.4 million from tenant fit-out services, while the Data Center Hosting Business generated $37.3 million. The company completed the separation of its Cloud Services Business into ChronoScale Holdings, retaining about 96% ownership. Management expects to hit its $1 billion annual net operating income target roughly three years ahead of schedule, with quarterly capex guided at approximately $600 million. However, the consensus estimate has shifted down 27.5% in the past month, and the stock carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell).
Nebius Group Sinks 13% on $4.5B Convertible Note Offering and Share Exchange Plan
Nebius Group shares plunged 13% to $215.52 in Wednesday morning trading after the Amsterdam-based AI cloud company announced a $4.5 billion convertible senior note offering paired with a share exchange plan tied to its existing converts. The offering consists of $2.75 billion of notes due 2030 and $1.75 billion due 2034, with initial purchasers granted options to buy up to an additional $375 million of the 2030 notes and $300 million of the 2034 notes within 13 days of first issuance. Concurrent with pricing, Nebius plans privately negotiated exchange agreements with holders of its existing 2% convertible notes due 2029 and 3% convertible notes due 2031, swapping a portion of those notes for Class A ordinary shares, and management warned that participating holders may sell those shares in the open market or unwind hedge derivatives, which could decrease the market price of the Class A shares. The company ended June with $8.04 billion in cash and cash equivalents, yet spent $5.66 billion on property, equipment, and intangible assets in Q2 2026 alone, reflecting heavy investment in data centers and GPU capacity. Nebius posted $582.3 million in Q2 revenue with the AI cloud segment growing 514% year over year, but the dilution concerns sent CoreWeave down 4% to $89.16 and Applied Digital down 6% to $26.76, while the First Trust Cloud Computing ETF slipped just 1.3% to $159.24, suggesting the move is stock-specific rather than a broad cloud selloff.
AI infrastructure stocks surge after strong earnings from CoreWeave, Supermicro
AI infrastructure stocks surged on Wednesday after blowout results from AI server hardware maker Supermicro and neocloud providers CoreWeave and Nebius Group. Nebius stock surged after quarterly revenue topped analyst expectations, while Supermicro reported fourth quarter results that beat analyst estimates on earnings and issued an upbeat forecast that sent shares higher by more than 6%. AI hosting peers Applied Digital and IREN also moved higher after CoreWeave posted quarterly results highlighting accelerating demand and a surging backlog. Lumentum shares gained after the maker of optical and photonic products for data centers posted fiscal fourth quarter revenue that more than doubled to $1.01 billion, and peers Coherent and Ciena both jumped. The memory and storage complex also rose, with the Roundhill Memory ETF up 4%, SanDisk up 4%, and Micron and SK Hynix each up 4%.
Applied Digital CFO Sells $2.6 Million in Stock to Cover Tax Obligations
Applied Digital Corporation's Chief Financial Officer Mohammad Saidal Lavanway Mohmand sold 96,408 shares at $27.39 per share, totaling approximately $2.6 million, in a non-discretionary sell-to-cover transaction to meet tax liabilities from the vesting of 245,000 performance stock units. Despite the sale, his total direct equity position increased to roughly 888,000 shares following the vesting and a distribution from 272 Capital, LP. Applied Digital, a digital infrastructure provider for AI and high-performance computing, has a market capitalization of $9.0 billion and trailing twelve-month revenue of $576.2 million. The company's HPC division reported operating margins over 90% in its latest quarter and a lease backlog of around $36 billion.
Applied Digital Revenue Surges 407% on AI Infrastructure Shift
Applied Digital Corp reported fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 revenue of $258.7 million, a 407% increase year over year that topped estimates of $94.8 million, as its pivot from crypto-mining hosting to AI infrastructure accelerates. Full-year revenue rose 167% to $611.3 million, and adjusted earnings per share reached $0.04 versus expectations of a $0.22 loss. The company has secured approximately 1.4 gigawatts in contracted critical IT capacity and $36 billion of base-term lease revenues across five AI factory campuses, including a $7.5 billion deal at its Delta Forge 1 campus and a roughly $7 billion, 15-year lease with CoreWeave at Polaris Forge. Despite the growth, risks remain around financing large-scale projects, customer concentration, and a high short interest of 27.02% of float, while the stock trades at a trailing price-to-sales multiple of about 15 times, above the sector average of 3.5 times.
Applied Digital's $36 Billion Lease Pipeline Could Make It a Multibagger
Applied Digital's contracted lease revenue pipeline of $36 billion, with potential to reach $86 billion if renewal options are exercised, positions the company for explosive growth amid the historic AI infrastructure build-out. The company designs, builds, and operates dedicated AI data centers, and its revenue surged 167% in fiscal 2026 to $611 million, with fourth-quarter revenue jumping fivefold year over year to $259 million. Analysts expect revenue to reach $2.7 billion by fiscal 2029, which could push its market cap to nearly $23.5 billion, roughly triple its current level, assuming a price-to-sales ratio of 8.7. Applied Digital is currently constructing 1.4 gigawatts of data center capacity and is marketing an additional 1.7 gigawatts, signaling further pipeline expansion. Goldman Sachs estimates that $7.6 trillion could be spent on AI data centers, computing hardware, and electricity between 2026 and 2031, underlining the massive tailwind for Applied Digital.
Applied Digital Reports $36 Billion in Contracted Lease Revenues Across 1.41 Gigawatts
Applied Digital Corporation used its fiscal fourth-quarter 2026 earnings call to highlight 1.41 gigawatts of contracted critical IT load across five campuses, supporting approximately $36 billion of base-term lease revenues. Chairman and CEO Wes Cummins said three recent leases with a single high investment-grade hyperscaler cover 810 megawatts and roughly $20 billion of that total, reflecting a shift toward durable agreements with financially stronger customers. The company is also marketing another 1.7 gigawatts and negotiating expansions with two existing customers that could add 250 megawatts and more than $6 billion in contracted revenue. CFO Saidal Mohmand detailed financing progress, including $2.15 billion of 6.75% senior secured notes and $1.59 billion of 7% senior secured notes, the latter pricing 225 basis points below the company's first project bond placement. Fiscal fourth-quarter adjusted revenues were $240.4 million, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $99.3 million, while the loss of 39 cents per share was wider than the expected loss of 18 cents. Management expects to reach a $1 billion annual net operating income run rate within one year, three years ahead of its original target.
Needham keeps Applied Digital at Buy with $83 target after Q4 results
Needham maintained its Buy rating and $83 price target for Applied Digital, implying roughly 215% upside from the bank's $26.38 reference price on July 27. The target reflects Needham's view that Applied Digital can execute across its expanding AI data-center portfolio, with fiscal fourth-quarter results showing operating progress and advanced discussions for another 250 MW that could extend contracted capacity if signed. Applied Digital reported fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $258.7 million and adjusted EBITDA of $42.4 million, though the headline revenue was heavily influenced by $152.4 million of low-margin tenant fit-out services described as one-time work. Excluding those services, HPC base-rent revenue reached $44.1 million, close to Needham's $44.3 million estimate, and HPC net operating income carried a 91% margin, exceeding management's guidance in the mid-80% range. Needham bases its $83 target on a 21× enterprise-value-to-EBITDA multiple applied to its discounted fiscal 2029 adjusted-EBITDA estimate of $2.33 billion, down from a previous $2.37 billion estimate.
Applied Digital revenue quadruples on AI data center demand
Applied Digital reported fourth-quarter revenue of $258.7 million, up 407% from a year earlier, as it accelerates its shift into a pure-play AI infrastructure developer. The company posted adjusted earnings of $0.04 per share, beating analyst estimates of a loss of $0.22 per share. It is building five multibillion-dollar AI Factory campuses for two hyperscalers and CoreWeave, and has secured roughly $20 billion in newly contracted hyperscaler leases, including an $11 billion lease with CoreWeave for Polaris Forge 1 and a $5 billion hyperscaler lease for Polaris Forge 2. Adjusted EBITDA was $42.4 million, while the bulk of quarterly revenue, $152.4 million, came from one-time tenant fit-out services. GAAP net loss nearly doubled to $110.6 million, driven in part by a $127.8 million stock-based compensation charge. Shares rose 3.4% in premarket trading.
Applied Digital, Celestica, and OPKO Health surge on strong earnings and raised outlooks
Applied Digital, Celestica, and OPKO Health were among Tuesday's biggest stock gainers after each reported quarterly results that beat expectations and raised their forward guidance. Applied Digital shares rose 4% as the AI infrastructure company posted a 407% year-over-year revenue surge to $258.7 million and adjusted earnings of $0.04 per share, driven by the on-time deployment of 175 megawatts of AI capacity at its Polaris Forge campus. Celestica gained 4% after revenue jumped 62% to $4.7 billion and adjusted EPS of $2.54 topped estimates, prompting the electronics manufacturer to lift its full-year 2026 revenue forecast to $20.5 billion and adjusted EPS outlook to $11.30, with management citing strong AI infrastructure demand and expecting 2027 revenue growth to accelerate further. OPKO Health climbed 9% as the company beat second-quarter revenue and earnings estimates, raised its full-year 2026 revenue guidance to a range of $560 million to $585 million, and narrowed its net loss to $0.01 per share, supported by a roughly 60% increase in pharmaceutical revenue that included $33.6 million in royalties and milestone payments. On the losing side, Aehr Test Systems fell 5% after filing a mixed shelf registration that investors viewed as a potential source of future dilution, while Universal Health Services slipped 4% after cutting its full-year 2026 non-GAAP EPS guidance to a range of $22.28 to $23.65 and reporting second-quarter earnings below expectations amid a 9% rise in operating expenses to $4.1 billion.
Seeking Alpha analysts split on best neocloud stock after sell-off
Seeking Alpha analysts offered contrasting views on the best neocloud stock play following the recent subsector sell-off. The Curious Analyst favors Applied Digital, citing its $36 billion in base-term contracted revenue from 1.4 gigawatts of critical IT capacity across five AI factory campuses, with 70% backed by U.S. hyperscalers, and also highlights Nebius as a more aggressive growth pick with 574% year-over-year AI cloud revenue growth to $399 million, $9.3 billion in cash, and a 9.3% stake from Nvidia. Rational Techne argues the sell-off is the beginning of a correction of previous excesses, calling most neocloud businesses fundamentally flawed and recommending none of them.
Morgan Stanley initiates coverage on bitcoin miners pivoting to AI data centers
Morgan Stanley initiated coverage on bitcoin miners transitioning to AI infrastructure providers, arguing that companies with large, grid-connected power assets are well positioned to benefit from surging demand for AI data centers. The brokerage assigned Overweight ratings to Hut 8 Mining and Riot Platforms, while giving Applied Digital an Equal-weight rating. It named Hut 8 its top pick with a $263 price target, implying about 141% upside, citing its strong portfolio of power assets and high-quality AI infrastructure leases. Riot Platforms received a $36 price target, with Morgan Stanley highlighting its large pipeline of powered sites, including the Corsicana and Rockdale campuses, as attractive for AI data center leases. Applied Digital was given a $36.50 price target, with the firm noting that lower returns on invested capital relative to peers and financing risks temper upside potential despite a sizable contracted AI data center lease portfolio. Morgan Stanley estimates that U.S. data center developers could still face power shortages through 2028 even if all major bitcoin mining sites are repurposed for AI workloads.
Applied Digital holds $16 billion in signed hyperscaler leases and analysts see 155% upside
Applied Digital holds $16 billion in aggregate prospective lease revenue from signed hyperscaler contracts, and analysts unanimously rate the stock a buy with a $76.70 price target implying 155% upside from $30.08. The company posted Q3 FY2026 revenue of $126.64 million, up 139.3% year over year, while adjusted EBITDA rose to $44.14 million from $6.26 million a year earlier. Its 400 MW Polaris Forge 1 facility is fully contracted to CoreWeave for roughly $11 billion, and the 200 MW Polaris Forge 2 is leased to a U.S. investment-grade hyperscaler for approximately $5 billion. Management targets $1 billion in net operating income within five years, supported by a pipeline of about 1 GW across four sites. The company has $1.73 billion in cash and recently priced a $2.15 billion senior secured notes offering at 6.750% to fund Polaris Forge 2.
StockStory Highlights Everpure as a Top Services Pick, Flags Applied Digital and WEBTOON as Stocks to Avoid
StockStory identifies Everpure as a resilient business services stock with exciting potential, while recommending investors avoid Applied Digital and WEBTOON Entertainment. Everpure, with a market cap of $25.61 billion, has compounded earnings per share at 61.1% annually over the past five years and generates strong free cash flow. Applied Digital, valued at $8.14 billion, faces concerns over its modest $355.5 million revenue base, cash-burning history, and potential shareholder dilution. WEBTOON Entertainment, with a $1.54 billion market cap, shows sluggish monthly active user trends, a 73.5% annual decline in earnings per share over two years, and a negative free cash flow margin of -0.6% over the last four years.
TeraWulf shares fell 8% to $20.41 in midday trading Tuesday, reversing a rally sparked by its $19 billion Anthropic data-center lease, as unfinalized credit support and a broad AI-infrastructure selloff weighed on the stock. Rosenblatt raised its target to $30, Needham to $33, KBW held Outperform at $33, and Bernstein reiterated Outperform at $36, yet the stock declined alongside peers IREN, down 7% to $40.97, Applied Digital, off 6% to $31.56, and Cipher Mining, down 4% to $20.85. The 20-year lease covers 401 megawatts net at the Justified Data campus in Kentucky, with phased delivery starting in the second half of 2027, pushing TeraWulf's total AI orderbook to $27 billion across three clients including Anthropic, Core42, and Alphabet-backed Fluidstack. KBW noted that investment-grade credit support depends on Anthropic's hardware vendor choice, expected within about four months, while TeraWulf also agreed to sell its 50.1% stake in the Abernathy joint venture to a Fluidstack-led group for $530 million in staged installments, adding to near-term overhangs.
StockStory Questions Wall Street Targets for Tractor Supply, Itron, and Applied Digital
StockStory casts doubt on Wall Street price targets for Tractor Supply, Itron, and Applied Digital, citing weak fundamentals. Tractor Supply’s consensus target of $46.04 implies a 43.9% return, but the firm points to 2.6% annual sales growth over three years and disappointing same-store sales. Itron’s $126.70 target suggests a 48.9% upside, yet revenue grew only 1.4% over two years and its return on invested capital stands at 6.5%. Applied Digital carries a $71 target for a 114% implied return, but StockStory highlights its modest $355.5 million revenue base, cash burn, and short cash runway.
Wall Street Analysts Raise Price Targets on Applied Digital, Advise Buying the Dip
Wall Street analysts are advising investors to buy the dip on Applied Digital. Northland raised its price target on the stock to $82 from $56 while maintaining an Outperform rating, citing strong execution by management and the development team. Craig Hallum also lifted its target to $79 from $75 with a Buy rating, pointing to a new lease with a US-based high-investment-grade hyperscaler that brings the company's total to five leases and 1.4 gigawatts of contracted capacity.
Applied Digital price target raised to $79, upside seen at 90%
Applied Digital Corporation carries a consensus Buy rating with a 12-month median price target of $74.50, implying a potential upside of 90.25% from the current stock price. On June 9, Craig-Hallum raised its price target on the company from $75 to $79 and maintained a Buy rating after Applied Digital announced a new lease with a US-based high investment-grade hyperscaler. The research firm believes the new site is in Alabama and noted the company has now secured five leases, bringing total contracted capacity to 1.4 gigawatts. The latest agreement covers 210 megawatts of critical IT load under a 15-year take-or-pay structure with renewal options, expected to generate about $5.2 billion in base-term contracted revenue, or approximately $12.7 billion if all renewal options are exercised over 30 years.
Applied Digital delivers second building at Polaris Forge 1, bringing live capacity to 175 MW
Applied Digital has achieved Ready for Service for Phase 1 of Building 2 at its Polaris Forge 1 campus, delivering 75 MW of operational AI capacity on schedule and bringing total live capacity at the campus to 175 MW. The delivery marks the next major milestone in the buildout of the fully leased AI Factory Campus, which is contracted to deliver 400 MW of critical IT load at full build out under long-term lease agreements. Chairman and CEO Wes Cummins said the on-time delivery underscores the strength of the company's execution model and demonstrates the repeatable framework it is scaling across its AI Factory footprint. This latest achievement follows the earlier on-time completion of the first 100 MW building at the campus. Polaris Forge 1 is located in Ellendale, North Dakota, where Applied Digital has operated since 2021.
Applied Digital Stock Up Over 400%, But Insider Sales and GAAP Losses Give Pause
Applied Digital shares have surged 337.56% over the past year from a $9.02 52-week low, but the stock now looks fully valued at $45.20. While Q3 FY26 revenue hit $126.64 million, up 139.3% year over year, and adjusted EBITDA swung to $44.14 million, GAAP net loss deepened 352.24% to $70.56 million. Insiders sold shares in the $25 to $35 range with no offsetting buys, even as all 11 analysts rate the stock a Buy with a $73.36 consensus target. The company carries roughly $2.7 billion in debt and relies almost entirely on CoreWeave as its principal customer, concentrating risk. A pullback to $28, a second anchor tenant beyond CoreWeave, and positive operating cash flow would make the stock worth revisiting.
Applied Digital Corporation Reports 139% Revenue Surge in Fiscal Q3 2026
Applied Digital Corporation reported fiscal Q3 2026 revenue of $126.6 million, a 139% increase year over year, driven by accelerating demand for high-performance computing hosting. The HPC Hosting segment became the largest revenue contributor at $71 million, while adjusted EBITDA reached $44.1 million. The company holds a $2.15 billion financing and a $2.7 billion debt stack, offset by $2.1 billion in cash, supporting an aggressive buildout strategy that includes a signed 200 MW lease with hyperscaler clients. Applied Digital's early deployment of 100 MW liquid cooling infrastructure provides a structural advantage in the GPU-dense data center market, though leverage remains elevated with interest coverage near 1.2x. Scaling utilization at the Polaris Forge 2 and Delta Forge 1 campuses could materially expand EBITDA and improve coverage ratios in the coming quarters.
IT Services & Other Tech Stocks Beat Q1 Revenue Estimates by 6.8%
The 20 IT services and other tech stocks tracked in this roundup reported a strong first quarter, with aggregate revenues beating analysts' consensus estimates by 6.8% and next-quarter revenue guidance coming in 5.6% above expectations. Cisco posted revenue of $15.84 billion, up 12% year-on-year and exceeding estimates by 1.9%, while Applied Digital delivered the biggest beat among peers with revenue of $126.6 million, up 139% year-on-year and surpassing expectations by 67.3%. IonQ recorded the fastest revenue growth, with revenue of $64.67 million, up 755% year-on-year and beating estimates by 30%. NetApp reported revenue of $1.95 billion, up 12.5% year-on-year and beating estimates by 4.1%. Everforth was the weakest performer, with flat revenue of $968.3 million and next-quarter guidance that missed expectations, sending its stock down 57.8% since the results.
MDU Resources signs electric service agreement for Applied Digital AI factory
MDU Resources announced that its Montana-Dakota Utilities subsidiary has entered into an electric service agreement with Applied Digital to provide power for the planned Polaris Forge 3 AI factory in North Dakota. The facility would require 430 megawatts of electricity at full capacity and is expected to expand Applied Digital's footprint in the state, where it is developing campuses for high-density artificial intelligence workloads. MDU already serves Applied Digital at the Polaris Forge 1 AI Factory, also in North Dakota.
Applied Digital Could Triple by 2030 on AI Data Center Demand, but Risks Remain
Applied Digital shares could triple by 2030, driven by its specialization in building data centers for artificial intelligence processing, though the stock carries significant risks. The company reported fiscal third-quarter revenue up 139% year over year and a net loss of $101 million, while projecting at least $36 billion in lifetime lease revenue from existing contracts, potentially reaching $86 billion. However, its price-to-sales ratio recently hit 31, and it has been taking on substantial debt without yet turning a profit. Goldman Sachs projects U.S. data center energy demand will double by next year, which could benefit Applied Digital if it continues signing new contracts.
Applied Digital's customer concentration remains elevated, with just two hyperscalers accounting for close to 90% of its approximately $36 billion in total contracted lease revenues. CoreWeave represents $11 billion of that total, while a separate hyperscaler anchoring Delta Forge 1, Polaris Forge 3, and Delta Forge 2 accounts for $20 billion. The remaining $5 billion is tied to a third hyperscaler at Polaris Forge 2. Initial operations at several of these facilities are not expected until 2027 and 2028, meaning future growth depends heavily on the continued expansion of existing customer relationships. The company's shares have returned 88.7% year to date, but it carries a Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell) and trades at a forward price-to-sales multiple of 16.87X, well above the broader sector's 8.82X.
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