Applied Digital (APLD) Prices $2.35 Billion Notes as AI Data Center Expansion Meets Market Jitters

Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: APLD), one of the fastest‑growing AI data‑center names on the Nasdaq, is back in focus today after pricing a massive $2.35 billion senior secured notes offering designed to supercharge its North Dakota “AI Factory” buildout. The financing arrives just days after the company lined up up to $787.5 million in additional equity funding from Macquarie Asset Management, but the stock is still suffering one of its roughest weeks in nearly two years as investors weigh leverage, dilution and broader AI anxiety. ^[1]

Key headlines for Applied Digital on November 14, 2025

$2.35 billion notes deal: Subsidiary APLD ComputeCo LLC has priced $2.35 billion of senior secured notes due 2030 with a 9.25% coupon, issued at 97% of face value. The transaction is expected to close around November 20, subject to market conditions, and was detailed in a new Form 8‑K filed today. ^[2]
Macquarie adds up to $787.5 million in equity: Macquarie Asset Management is expected to provide an additional $787.5 million in preferred equity to accelerate Applied Digital’s Polaris Forge 1 and Polaris Forge 2 AI campuses in North Dakota. ^[3]
Wall Street stance: “Moderate Buy”: MarketBeat reports a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating from 13 analysts (1 sell, 11 buy, 1 strong buy), with an average 12‑month price target of about $26.20 per share. ^[4]
Institutional buying continues: Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. recently lifted its stake in APLD by 26.6% to roughly 145,000 shares, as part of a broader pattern of institutional accumulation (institutional ownership is estimated around two‑thirds of the stock). ^[5]
Volatile but still a big 2025 winner: Depending on the source, APLD is up roughly 250%–300% year‑to‑date, yet the stock is down around 25%+ this week and is on track for its worst weekly performance since early 2024 amid growing skepticism over AI spending. ^[6]

1. The centerpiece: APLD’s $2.35 billion senior notes offering

Late Thursday, November 13, Applied Digital announced that its subsidiary APLD ComputeCo LLC priced a $2.35 billion offering of 9.25% senior secured notes due 2030, issued at 97% of face value. ^[7]

Key details from the company’s press release and 8‑K filing:

Issuer: APLD ComputeCo LLC, a subsidiary of Applied Digital.
Size: $2.35 billion aggregate principal amount.
Coupon: 9.250% annually.
Maturity: 2030.
Issue price: 97% of face value (implies a yield above the coupon).
Investor base: Offered only to qualified institutional buyers under Rule 144A and to non‑U.S. investors under Regulation S. ^[8]

Use of proceeds

According to Applied Digital, net proceeds from the notes are earmarked to: ^[9]

Fund part of the construction and related expenses of the 100‑MW ELN‑02 and 150‑MW ELN‑03 data centers at its 400‑MW Polaris Forge 1 campus in Ellendale, North Dakota.
Repay the outstanding principal and interest on an existing credit facility arranged earlier this year with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
Fund debt service reserves and cover transaction costs.

The notes will be secured by first‑priority liens on substantially all assets of APLD Compute and its guarantor subsidiaries (including the project entities that own the new data centers), as well as pledges of the equity in those entities. Applied Digital itself will provide completion guarantees for the facilities, effectively backstopping timely delivery of the projects. ^[10]

From a credit‑market perspective, commentators have characterized the deal as a large, high‑coupon secured financing priced at a discount—typical of leveraged build‑out capital for infrastructure assets that are still ramping up. ^[11]

2. Macquarie’s $787.5 million boost to the “AI Factory” plan

Earlier this week, Applied Digital announced that Macquarie Asset Management will provide up to $787.5 million in additional preferred equity funding under a previously disclosed facility of up to $5 billion. ^[12]

The funds are intended to:

Polaris Forge 2 (Harwood, ND):
- Receive $450 million to continue building out the second North Dakota campus.
- Polaris Forge 2 has already leased 200 MW of IT capacity to an unnamed U.S. investment‑grade hyperscaler, which reportedly holds a right of first refusal for an additional 800 MW, meaning the site could eventually scale to 1 GW of AI data‑center capacity. ^[13]
Polaris Forge 1 (Ellendale, ND):
- The remaining $337.5 million is earmarked for the 400‑MW Polaris Forge 1 campus, contingent on closing the new notes offering.
- The capital provides non‑dilutive funding for the campus, helps support corporate expenses and covers transaction costs. ^[14]

Management also disclosed a separate $65 million revolving credit and letter‑of‑credit facility with First National Bank of Omaha, secured by Applied Digital (but not its subsidiaries), giving the company more flexibility around working capital and guarantees. ^[15]

Taken together, the Macquarie equity and the $2.35 billion notes form the backbone of Applied Digital’s financing plan to transform its North Dakota sites into multi‑gigawatt AI infrastructure “factories”.

3. Analyst and institutional sentiment: Bullish, but not unanimous

Despite this week’s sell‑off, Wall Street is still broadly positive on APLD.

According to MarketBeat:

Consensus rating: “Moderate Buy” from 13 analysts.
Breakdown: 1 Sell, 11 Buy, 1 Strong Buy.
Average 12‑month price target: About $26.20 per share. ^[16]

Several firms have raised ambitious targets in recent months, with some price objectives stretching into the $35–$40 range, while at least one outlet has downgraded the stock to “sell,” highlighting how polarizing Applied Digital has become as its valuation has exploded. ^[17]

On the ownership side, MarketBeat reports that Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management increased its stake by 26.6% in Q2, ending the quarter with about 145,000 shares, while a mix of U.S. banks, wealth managers and pension funds have also added to positions. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own roughly 65%+ of the stock, underscoring that APLD is firmly on the radar of professional money managers. ^[18]

4. APLD stock: From triple‑digit gains to “worst week in nearly two years”

Even after the recent pullback, APLD remains one of 2025’s standout AI trades:

One analysis pegs the year‑to‑date gain at about 311%, while others estimate an increase in the mid‑200% range, reflecting timing differences in how returns are calculated. ^[19]
Shares have traded in a 12‑month range of roughly $3.31 to $40.20, with the stock opening today around the low‑$20s and a market cap in the mid‑single‑digit billions. ^[20]

But volatility is extreme:

TradingView notes that APLD has logged over 90 daily moves larger than 5% in the past year. ^[21]
After initially rising earlier in the week, the stock fell over 12% on Thursday and was recently down about 26% week‑to‑date, setting up what could be its worst week since early April 2024 if the pattern holds into the close. ^[22]

On social‑trading platform Stocktwits, Applied Digital has been one of the top‑trending mid‑cap tech names, with retail sentiment still skewing bullish despite the drawdown—some traders publicly committing to “buy the dip” and others waiting for even lower entry levels around $17. ^[23]

5. Why is APLD under pressure? Dilution, leverage and AI anxiety

Several overlapping concerns are weighing on APLD this week:

Equity dilution fears
The Macquarie deal, while providing crucial capital, involves issuing new preferred equity. TradingView reports that APLD dropped about 10% in a single session after investors digested the $787.5 million funding headline, with the market focused on potential dilution and the company’s heavy reliance on external capital. ^[24]
High‑coupon, discounted debt
TipRanks highlights that the 9.25% coupon and 97% issue price on the new notes have sparked questions about the cost of capital and the size of Applied Digital’s leverage as it accelerates growth. Options activity has tilted more bearish, with a steepening put‑call skew as traders seek downside protection. ^[25]
Macro AI jitters and CoreWeave spillover
Stocktwits points out that Applied Digital’s slump has coincided with a broader shake‑out in AI infrastructure names, following a guidance cut from data‑center client CoreWeave and high‑profile warnings from short sellers about aggressive asset‑life assumptions in AI data centers. ^[26]
Short interest and momentum reversal
Data compiled in recent SEC‑filing summaries show short interest above 20% of the float, amplifying daily swings as both bulls and bears trade around headlines. ^[27]

The result: APLD is caught between huge long‑term growth expectations and a more cautious near‑term market that’s become wary of richly valued AI stories financed with expensive capital.

6. The long‑term bull case: Massive AI lease pipeline

While the tape looks ugly this week, the fundamental growth story many bulls are focused on hasn’t changed.

According to a widely circulated analysis republished by Finviz and others: ^[28]

Applied Digital has pivoted from primarily bitcoin‑mining hosting to building and operating AI‑first, high‑performance computing data centers.
The company has signed multi‑billion‑dollar, multi‑year leases that give it a long‑duration revenue pipeline:
- Roughly 400 MW of capacity leased to CoreWeave across several long‑term agreements, estimated to deliver around $11 billion in lease revenue over 15 years.
- A separate 200‑MW, 15‑year lease with a U.S. hyperscaler at Polaris Forge 2, projected to generate about $5 billion in revenue.
Combined, that implies roughly $16 billion in contracted revenue over the next decade and a half, compared with trailing‑12‑month revenue of about $170+ million, highlighting how early the ramp‑up still is. ^[29]

Management has also emphasized:

Around 700 MW of capacity under construction at the end of the most recent quarter. ^[30]
The ability to scale each North Dakota campus toward 1 GW or more, with a 4‑GW+ active development pipeline when potential new sites are included. ^[31]
A reduction in typical build timelines from roughly two years to 12–14 months, allowing the company to bring capacity online faster and start recognizing lease revenue sooner. ^[32]

This is the backdrop behind articles describing Applied Digital as a “little‑known AI stock up over 300% in 2025” that could still have room to run if those contracts are built and ramped on schedule. ^[33]

7. Credit profile and ratings

Credit‑rating agency S&P Global Ratings has recently assigned Applied Digital a “B+” issuer credit rating with a Positive outlook, pointing to the support provided by its long‑term contracts and contracted capacity while noting the execution and leverage risks inherent in its aggressive build‑out. ^[34]

That rating places APLD solidly in speculative‑grade territory, which is common for capital‑intensive infrastructure companies that are still in the high‑growth, high‑capex phase but enjoy visibility from take‑or‑pay style contracts.

8. Earnings snapshot: Fast growth, still unprofitable

The latest quarterly numbers help explain why both bulls and bears feel strongly about this name.

From recent earnings data summarized by MarketBeat: ^[35]

Revenue: About $64.2 million, beating consensus estimates (~$52.3 million) and growing over 80% year‑on‑year.
EPS: A loss of roughly $0.03 per share, better than the expected loss of $0.11 but still negative.
Margins & returns: Net margin and return on equity remain deeply negative (net margin reported around -111%), reflecting large depreciation, start‑up costs and heavy investment ahead of full utilization.
Balance sheet (pre‑notes):
- Quick and current ratios around 0.65, underlining the importance of recent financings to support liquidity.
- Debt‑to‑equity ratio below 0.3 before the new notes; that leverage ratio will climb as the deal closes.

Analysts surveyed expect the company to remain loss‑making at the EPS level for the current fiscal year, even as revenue continues to rise sharply. ^[36]

9. What investors will be watching next

For anyone tracking APLD—bull, bear or just AI‑curious—several near‑term milestones now matter:

Closing of the notes offering
Whether the $2.35 billion deal closes on schedule around November 20 and on the agreed terms will be key. A failed or significantly altered deal would force Applied Digital to rethink its funding plan. ^[37]
Macquarie equity draw‑downs
The $337.5 million portion earmarked for Polaris Forge 1 is tied to the successful completion of the notes. Investors will look for confirmation that these funds are received as planned. ^[38]
Construction and “ready‑for‑service” milestones
Management recently reported the first “ready‑for‑service” milestone at Polaris Forge 1’s initial data hall. Future updates on additional halls and buildings at both Polaris Forge 1 and 2 will be closely watched as the company converts capex into revenue‑generating capacity. ^[39]
CoreWeave and hyperscaler demand
Any changes—positive or negative—in contract terms, utilization or payment behavior from CoreWeave and the unnamed U.S. hyperscaler would be material, given the multi‑billion‑dollar concentration in just a few customers. ^[40]
AI spending sentiment and peer performance
Because Applied Digital’s story is tightly linked to AI infrastructure capex, any further guidance cuts, regulatory changes, or high‑profile short‑seller critiques in the broader AI‑data‑center ecosystem can move the stock sharply, even without APLD‑specific news. ^[41]

Final word

Applied Digital is emblematic of the 2025 AI boom: a once‑niche infrastructure company that has reinvented itself around high‑performance compute, locked in eye‑popping multi‑year contracts, raised enormous sums of capital—and now trades with stomach‑churning volatility as the market debates whether the AI build‑out is sustainable.

For readers and investors, today’s news boils down to a trade‑off:

The company now has more of the capital it needs to complete its North Dakota “AI Factory” vision.
But it also has more leverage, more financing complexity and less room for execution errors at a time when sentiment toward richly valued AI names has turned choppy.

As always, this article is for information only and does not constitute investment advice. Anyone considering APLD should do their own research, review the company’s SEC filings and, if necessary, consult a qualified financial adviser before making trading or investment decisions.

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