Applied Digital Co. (NASDAQ:APLD) Short Interest Update

Applied Digital Co. (NASDAQ:APLD) experienced a significant rise in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, the total short interest amounted to 39,290,000 shares, showing an increase of 45.4% from the previous total of 27,020,000 shares reported on October 31st. With an average daily trading volume of 16,990,000 shares, the current days-to-cover ratio stands at 2.3 days. This indicates that about 24.0% of the company's shares are currently sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Response

Recent analyses from various equity research firms have focused on Applied Digital. Lake Street Capital raised their price target for the stock from $7.00 to $11.00, maintaining a "buy" rating, in a report issued on October 10th. Additionally, HC Wainwright increased their price objective from $5.00 to $10.00 and also assigned a "buy" rating on October 16th. Needham & Company reasserted a "buy" rating while setting a target price of $11.00 in their report dated November 1st. B. Riley upgraded their price target from $8.00 to $9.00 with a "buy" rating on September 13th. Lastly, Craig Hallum raised their price objective from $10.00 to $12.00, maintaining a "buy" rating on October 10th. Overall, six analysts have rated the stock as a "buy," and according to MarketBeat, it holds an average rating of "buy" with a target price of $10.50.

Insider Activities at Applied Digital

In terms of insider trading, CEO Wes Cummins sold 200,000 shares on November 27th, at an average price of $9.20, accruing a total value of $1,840,000.00. After the sale, Cummins holds 3,875,955 shares valued at approximately $35.7 million. This sale reflects a 4.91% decrease in his ownership position. Furthermore, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 50,000 shares on the same day at the same average price, totaling $460,000. After this transaction, Nottenburg owns about 334,317 shares worth roughly $3.08 million, indicating a 13.01% reduction in ownership. In total, insiders have sold 369,369 shares valued at $3,170,161 within the last 90 days, with corporate insiders holding 11.81% of the stock.

Hedge Fund Movements in Applied Digital

There have been notable adjustments in hedge fund positions regarding Applied Digital recently. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake by 70.2% in the first quarter, owning 6,176,073 shares valued at $26.43 million after buying an additional 2,547,485 shares. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings by 48.7% in the third quarter, now having 3,061,160 shares valued at $25.26 million following a purchase of 1,002,862 shares. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its position by 8.7% in the second quarter, now owning 9,596,231 shares worth $57.1 million after acquiring an additional 771,699 shares. Alight Capital Management LP entered a new stake valued at approximately $3.57 million during the second quarter. Lastly, Van ECK Associates Corp expanded its holding by 18.3% in the second quarter, reaching 2,869,980 shares valued at $17.08 million after an additional 443,699 shares. Institutional and hedge funds collectively hold 65.67% of Applied Digital’s stock.

APLD Stock Performance

On Friday, Applied Digital’s stock rose by 4.6%, with a midday trading price reaching $10.10. The trading volume was 11,660,339 shares, surpassing the average volume of 7,954,302. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $7.89 and a 200-day moving average of $5.95. Applied Digital holds a market capitalization of $2.18 billion, a P/E ratio of -8.88, and a beta of 4.65. For the past year, the stock's lowest point was $2.36, while the highest was $10.94. The current ratio is 0.22, the quick ratio is 0.22, and the debt-to-equity ratio is 0.62.

Quarterly Earnings Report

Applied Digital released its quarterly earnings report on October 9th. The company posted a loss of ($0.15) earnings per share (EPS), which exceeded the consensus estimate of ($0.28) by $0.13. The firm recorded a negative return on equity of 88.87% alongside a negative net margin of 74.95%. Their revenue for the quarter amounted to $60.70 million, surpassing analyst expectations of $54.85 million. Compared to the same quarter a year ago, revenue increased by 67.2%. Analysts predict that Applied Digital will wrap up the fiscal year with an EPS of -0.4.

About Applied Digital

Applied Digital Corporation is involved in designing, developing, and operating data centers in North America. The company’s data centers deliver digital infrastructure solutions tailored for the high-performance computing sector. Moreover, Applied Digital also provides artificial intelligence cloud services, high-performance computing data center hosting, and cryptocurrency data center hosting.

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