Billionaire Investor Takes a Stake in Applied Digital (APLD)

Dan Loeb‘s Third Point acquired an investment in Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ:APLD) in the second quarter, buying 22,000 shares, valued at about $0.8 million, as of June 30. The company is scheduled to report fiscal first-quarter 2027 earnings on October 8 after the market closes. Analysts estimate a loss of 30 cents per share along with revenue of $134.86 million. Recent News: Applied Digital reported fourth-quarter revenue of $258.75 million, beating analyst estimates of $94.84 million, according to Benzinga Pro. The digital infrastructure provider reported adjusted earnings of four cents per share for the quarter, beating estimates for a loss of 22 cents per share. Applied Digital has already signed leases representing approximately 1.41 gigawatts of contracted capacity while marketing another 1.7 gigawatts across its existing campuses. Management also said its current portfolio has visibility to expand beyond 5 gigawatts through 2032. As of May 31, the company has executed long-term leases representing approximately 1,410 MW of contracted critical IT load across five campuses. Total live capacity at Polaris Forge 1 is up to 175 MW. Additional buildings at Polaris Forge 1, along with Polaris Forge 2, Polaris Forge 3, Delta Forge 1 and Delta Forge 2, are in various stages of construction. During the company’s fourth-quarter earnings call, executives revealed that the credit quality of their AI infrastructure customers is already reducing borrowing costs, creating what could become a significant competitive advantage as the company builds more AI data centers. Management noted that work with CoreWeave, Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) helped establish the company’s financing model, but added that future campuses leased to the unnamed "high investment-grade hyperscaler" should allow Applied Digital to secure similarly attractive financing going forward. Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Overweight rating and a $50 price forecast. The analyst emphasized Applied Digital’s structural competitive advantages in securing utility power allocations and multi-gigawatt site interconnects required for high-density AI workloads, specifically pointing to the lower relative regulatory risk associated with its power-advantaged footprint. APLD earnings Oct. 2026: estimates and analyst price targets The countdown is on: Applied Digital Corporation Common Stock is set to report earnings on October 7, 2026 (confirmed). EPS Estimate: Loss of 30 cents (Down from Loss of 3 cents YoY) Revenue Estimate: $134.86 million (Up from $64.22 million YoY) Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy rating with an average price forecast of $61.65. Recent analyst moves include: UBS: Initiated with Buy (Target $38.00) (Sept. 23) Rothschild & Co: Initiated with Neutral (Target $22.00) (Sept. 21) Wells Fargo: Initiated with Overweight (Target $50.00) (Sept. 17) How APLD stacks up vs GDS, FSLY, GDDY, AKAM, DOCN This peer comparison is based on a curated set of five stocks selected for this analysis: GDS Holdings Limited ADS (GDS), Fastly, Inc. (FSLY), GoDaddy Inc (GDDY), Akamai Technologies Inc (AKAM), and DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc. (DOCN). Over the past year, Applied Digital gained 12.78%, trailing the peer-group average return of 92.92% by 80.14 percentage points. Applied Digital finished ahead of two peers but lagged DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc., Fastly, Inc., and Akamai Technologies Inc on 1-year performance. Within the group, DigitalOcean Holdings, Inc. was the strongest performer at +291.49%, while GoDaddy Inc was the weakest at -34.28%. The remaining peers were mixed, with GDS Holdings Limited ADS down 22.14%, Akamai Technologies Inc up 39.79%, and Fastly, Inc. up 189.73%. APLD ETF exposure: DTCR, BKCH, and HECO fund flows Global X Data Center & Digital Infrastructure ETF (NASDAQ:DTCR): 4.08% Weight Global X Blockchain ETF (NASDAQ:BKCH): 3.88% Weight State Street Galaxy Hedged Digital Asset Ecosystem ETF (NASDAQ:HECO): 4.23% Weight Significance: Because APLD carries significant weight in these funds, any significant inflows or outflows for these ETFs will likely force automatic buying or selling of the stock. APLD stock today: shares higher in Tuesday’s regular session APLD Stock Price Activity: Applied Digital shares are trading higher by 2.75% at $25.20 at the time of publication on Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro data. Photo via Shutterstock