We Asked 3 AI Chatbots for the Week's Top Stock Picks: Applied Digital Tops the List

Applied Digital Corp. (NASDAQ:APLD) reports fiscal first-quarter results after the bell Wednesday, and two of three AI chatbots expect the print to lift the stock by Friday. APLD stock is moving. See the chart and price action here. Each chatbot got the same prompt: Name one U.S.-listed stock for the week, with a catalyst, thesis, key data, risk and trade plan. OpenAI’s ChatGPT and xAI’s Grok both named the AI data-center operator their top pick for the week of Oct. 5. Anthropic‘s Claude, however, went another way. It picked Delta Air Lines Inc. (NYSE:DAL) ahead of the carrier’s Friday report and ranked Applied Digital second. ChatGPT Bets On Capacity ChatGPT was the most confident of the three, rating its call 8 out of 10. Capacity drove its thesis. According to ChatGPT, Applied Digital just brought another 75 megawatts online, lifting its Polaris Forge 1 campus to 250 MW in operation against 400 MW under contract. The chatbot also cited bullish initiations from UBS, Wells Fargo and Jones Trading, plus a short float near 22%. Its plan calls for buying between $25 and $25.75, with a $29.50 target and a $23.40 stop. Read Also: Exclusive: Starship's Weak Spot Could Help Rocket Lab and Firefly Grok Leans On Momentum Grok rated its pick seven out of 10 and pointed to last quarter’s blowout. Applied Digital posted fiscal fourth-quarter revenue of $258.7 million in July, up 407% and far above the $94.8 million analysts expected. “We see demand for high-power-density, purpose-built AI data centers remaining extremely robust,” CEO Wes Cummins said at the time. Grok’s trade plan runs wider. It calls for entry between $25 and $26, a weekly target of $30 to $32 and a $22 stop. The APLD Setup Applied Digital closed Friday at $25.38, up 5.05% on the day. Shares are up about 3.5% this year but trade roughly 50% below their 52-week high of $50.73. The company has a market value of about $7.3 billion. Long-term leases anchor the bull case. CoreWeave Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWV) is a key tenant, and Applied Digital signed a $7.5 billion lease with an unnamed U.S. hyperscaler at its Delta Forge 1 site in April. Both chatbots flagged the same risk: a miss or soft guidance could hit a volatile stock carrying heavy short interest. See More: Top Momentum Stocks Claude Picks Delta Claude was the most cautious, rating its call 6 out of 10. Delta kicks off airline earnings season before the open Friday. Claude’s thesis rests on four straight earnings beats and a lower bar after TD Cowen trimmed its price target to $101 from $105. Fuel is the overhang. Delta expected this year’s fuel bill to run about $4 billion higher than in 2025, though its Trainer refinery in Pennsylvania leaves the airline “a bit more insulated than peers,” CNBC said. The stock is up about 21% this year and DAL stock closed Friday at $84.09, roughly 12% below its 52-week high. Claude’s plan: buy between $83 and $85, target $91 and stop at $79. The Runners-Up The backup lists overlapped. ChatGPT named Levi Strauss & Co. (NYSE:LEVI), which reports Wednesday after the close, and Constellation Brands Inc. (NYSE:STZ), which reports Tuesday after the bell. Claude also tapped the Corona brewer. Grok went with Delta and PepsiCo Inc. (NASDAQ:PEP), which reports Thursday before the open. Read Also: Meta's Muse Can Dox Vulnerable Users if Asked Twice, Report Finds Photo: Shutterstock