Stock Traders Purchase High Volume of Applied Digital Call Options (NASDAQ:APLD)

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Traders bought 164,196 call options on the company. This is an increase of 36% compared to the typical daily volume of 121,086 call options.

Insider Activity at Applied Digital

In other Applied Digital news, Director Richard N. Nottenburg sold 12,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.45, for a total transaction of $425,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 233,378 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,273,250.10. This trade represents a 4.89% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Wes Cummins sold 165,000 shares of Applied Digital stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $36.42, for a total value of $6,009,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 4,176,329 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $152,101,902.18. This trade represents a 3.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold a total of 368,053 shares of company stock valued at $13,251,886 over the last 90 days. 9.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Applied Digital

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of APLD. Noble Wealth Management PBC purchased a new position in shares of Applied Digital during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Albion Financial Group UT bought a new position in Applied Digital during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Larson Financial Group LLC grew its holdings in Applied Digital by 56,450.0% during the 3rd quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 1,131 shares of the company’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 1,129 shares in the last quarter. Dagco Inc. bought a new stake in Applied Digital in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Applied Digital by 87.5% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,376 shares of the company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 642 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 65.67% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $41.00 price target on shares of Applied Digital in a report on Thursday, January 8th. HC Wainwright upped their target price on Applied Digital from $20.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 10th. Arete Research began coverage on Applied Digital in a report on Wednesday, January 7th. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Freedom Capital raised shares of Applied Digital to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, January 6th. Finally, Citigroup restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Applied Digital in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twelve have given a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Applied Digital currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $33.27.

Key Headlines Impacting Applied Digital

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

• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large call-option activity: Traders bought ~164,196 APLD call options on Friday (≈36% above typical call volume), signaling heightened bullish positioning that can amplify upward price moves.
• Positive Sentiment: Delta Forge 1 groundbreak — capacity expansion: Applied Digital announced it has broken ground on Delta Forge 1, a campus designed for 430 MW total utility power (initially enabling ~300 MW IT load) to serve hyperscalers and AI workloads. This materially increases future revenue capacity and supports the company’s long-term AI infrastructure thesis. Delta Forge 1 groundbreak
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrade: Texas Capital upgraded APLD to a “strong-buy,” which can attract additional institutional interest and support higher valuation expectations. Analyst upgrade
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/strategic analysis: A Seeking Alpha piece frames Applied Digital as a fast-growing AI data-center operator with meaningful pipeline (cited ~$16B prospective lease revenue across 600 MW) but notes the business is at a “sensitive juncture”—highlighting growth potential alongside execution and financing risk. Seeking Alpha analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings transcripts available: Recent Q4 2024 and Q2 2025 earnings transcripts were published; prior quarter showed strong revenue growth (reported +250% YoY) but an EPS miss and negative margins — data investors will parse for guidance, unit economics and customer/booking details. Q4 transcript: Q4 2024 transcript — Q2 transcript: Q2 2025 transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Caution from media personality: Jim Cramer mentioned APLD and urged investors to “take profits,” a short-term bearish sentiment that can trigger profit-taking among retail holders. Jim Cramer take-profits remark

Applied Digital Trading Up 8.5%

APLD stock opened at $37.69 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.79, a current ratio of 4.82 and a quick ratio of 4.82. Applied Digital has a 1-year low of $3.31 and a 1-year high of $40.20. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $28.76 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $23.56. The company has a market capitalization of $10.54 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -69.80 and a beta of 6.89.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 7th. The company reported ($0.11) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.09) by ($0.02). Applied Digital had a negative net margin of 43.49% and a negative return on equity of 13.53%. The company had revenue of $126.59 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $82.22 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned ($0.06) EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 250.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Applied Digital will post -0.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Applied Digital Company Profile

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.