Applied Digital stock rises after $7.5 billion AI data center lease with U.S. hyperscaler. (SEC)

DALLAS, April 23, 2026, 16:09 UTC-05:00.

Applied Digital shares jumped roughly 12% to $36.35 in afternoon trade after the company disclosed a 15-year, $7.5 billion lease agreement with a major U.S. hyperscaler—a large cloud-computing client—covering 300 megawatts at its Delta Forge 1 data-center campus. The tenant wasn’t named.

Applied Digital now has over $23 billion in contracted lease revenue, the company said, after locking in a second U.S. investment-grade hyperscale client. More than half of its contracted revenue is now supported by investment-grade tenants. According to investor materials released Thursday, the new deal brings a third hyperscale tenant into the mix across Applied Digital’s trio of AI data-center campuses.

Amazon, Google, Meta, Microsoft, and Oracle are all racing to lock down power, land, and cooling capacity for their AI operations. But as demand ramps up across the U.S., companies are hitting snags: grid bottlenecks, a shortage of turbines, and lengthy delays just to get plugged in.

Applied Digital is sticking to its goal of “delivering operational AI capacity at scale,” according to Chief Executive Wes Cummins. The company’s Delta Forge 1 facility in Alexandria, Louisiana, covers over 500 acres and packs 430 megawatts. Initial operations are penciled in for mid-2027. SEC

Applied Digital, in a separate update, disclosed plans for as much as $600 million in new funding. That includes a $300 million senior secured bridge loan for the 150-megawatt Building 3 at Polaris Forge 1, as well as up to $300 million in revolving credit to cover development, working capital, and deal costs, according to a filing.

Applied Digital secures a stronger position in a market where big players like Equinix are already tapping into AI-driven growth. Equinix, the top data-center operator globally, projected 2026 revenue ahead of expectations back in February thanks to demand tied to AI.

Applied Digital’s revenue jumped 139% to $126.6 million for the quarter, reported on April 8, but the company’s net loss deepened. Expenses almost tripled, and a $59.7 million impairment charge linked to the cloud business weighed on results. The backlog hasn’t yet translated into more consistent earnings.

In Thursday’s investor presentation, the company detailed that it’s locked in contracts for 400 megawatts with CoreWeave at Polaris Forge 1 in North Dakota, plus another 200 megawatts at Polaris Forge 2 with a separate investment-grade hyperscaler. Earlier this month, Cummins remarked that hyperscalers were “as aggressive as we have ever seen them.” SEC

Still, the fresh Louisiana revenue stream hasn’t landed yet. No word on the customer, financing remains pending, and Applied Digital’s filings lay out a list of risks: construction holdups, tough capital conditions, a few big customers, potential power hiccups or gear trouble—all could hit results.

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