Stocks

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Receives Continued Support from Roth Mkm

Published October 12, 2024

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD – Get Free Report) has retained its "buy" rating according to recent research conducted by Roth Mkm. This reaffirmation was highlighted in a report shared with clients and investors on Thursday, as reported by Benzinga. The firm has set a price target of $10.00 for the stock. This target indicates a potential increase of 37.36% from its current trading price.

Other analysts have also recently provided updates on Applied Digital. For instance, Craig Hallum raised its target price from $10.00 to $12.00, maintaining their "buy" rating. Similarly, Needham & Company LLC confirmed a "buy" rating with a price objective of $11.00. Additionally, B. Riley increased its target price from $8.00 to $9.00 and reiterated its "buy" recommendation. HC Wainwright also reaffirmed a "buy" rating but set a lower target of $5.00 at the end of August. Overall, six analysts have rated APLD with a buy rating, establishing an average rating of "buy" and a consensus target price around $9.67 based on MarketBeat.com data.

Current Stock Performance

On Thursday, shares of APLD opened at $7.28. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion and holds a P/E ratio of -6.20, with a beta of 4.56. Notably, Applied Digital's stock has fluctuated within a 52-week range, hitting a low of $2.36 and a high of $8.78. In terms of liquidity, the company has recorded a quick ratio of 0.08 and a current ratio of 0.08, alongside a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.14. The stock is currently averaging $5.48 over the past fifty days and $4.77 over the last 200 days.

On October 9th, Applied Digital announced its quarterly earnings, reporting earnings per share of ($0.15), surpassing analysts' expectations of ($0.28) by $0.13. Despite what appears to be a challenging profitability situation with a net margin of -74.95% and a negative return on equity of -107.05%, the firm generated $60.70 million in revenue for the quarter, which is a significant increase of 67.2% year-over-year and exceeds estimates of $54.85 million. Analysts predict that Applied Digital will end the year with an EPS of -1.12.

Insider Trading Activity

In related news, Director Douglas S. Miller executed a stock sale on September 5th, where he sold 10,000 shares for an average price of $5.50, totaling $55,000. Following this sale, he continues to own 218,506 shares, valued at approximately $1.2 million. This transaction reflects a 0.00% change in his overall ownership stake. Such sales are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and are accessible for public review. The current ownership by corporate insiders amounts to about 20.50% of the company’s shares.

Institutional Ownership Changes

Several institutional investors have recently adjusted their stakes in Applied Digital. For example, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position by 70.2% in the first quarter, now holding 6,176,073 shares with a total value of $26.43 million. Similarly, Van ECK Associates Corp boosted their holdings by 92.1% over the same period, acquiring 1,163,247 shares to total 2,426,281 shares valued at $10.38 million. Hood River Capital Management LLC also increased its holdings by 8.7%, owning 9,596,231 shares worth $57.1 million. Moreover, Alight Capital Management LP entered a new position valued at around $3.57 million during the second quarter. In total, 65.67% of Applied Digital's shares are held by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation specializes in the design, development, and operation of data centers across North America. The company provides essential digital infrastructure solutions catering to the high-performance computing sector, alongside artificial intelligence cloud services, high-performance computing data center hosting, and crypto data center hosting services.

AppliedDigital, Stocks, Analysis