Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: APLD) — one of 2025’s most explosive AI infrastructure stocks — is trading lower today after gapping down at the open, even as the company hits major milestones at its North Dakota “AI Factory” campuses and locks in billions in long-term contracts.
As of late trading on Tuesday, November 25, 2025, APLD is changing hands around $23.53, down roughly 1% from Monday’s close, after swinging between an intraday low near $21.45 and a high around $24.15.
Despite today’s pullback, the stock remains one of this year’s standout AI winners: shares have surged more than 300% in 2025, at one point moving from about $5 to $40 on the back of multi‑billion‑dollar AI data center deals. [1]
APLD stock price today (November 25, 2025)
Here’s a quick snapshot of APLD’s trading action and key stats today:
- Last price: ~$23.53 per share
- Day change: down about 1% vs. Monday’s close near $23.76 [2]
- Intraday range: roughly $21.45 – $24.15
- Today’s volume: ~16.6 million shares (still active, but below some recent spikes)
- 52‑week range: about $3.31 – $40.20 [3]
- Market capitalization: roughly $6.3 billion at today’s levels [4]
- Valuation & risk profile:
- Negative P/E (~‑20x, reflecting current losses)
- Very high beta (~6.8), signaling extreme volatility [5]
Today’s move comes right after a huge Monday rally: on November 24 the stock jumped 12.66%, from $21.09 to $23.76, with a wide intraday range of about 13%. [6]
This morning, MarketBeat reports that APLD gapped down, opening at $22.66 after Monday’s close at $23.79, and earlier traded near $22.39 on volume of about 5.3 million shares. [7] Later in the session, the stock recovered part of those losses to the ~$23.5 area.
Why Applied Digital stock is moving now
Today’s softness in APLD is happening against a backdrop of:
- A sharp near‑term pullback after a huge year‑to‑date run.
Articles from both 24/7 Wall St. and The Motley Fool highlight how APLD has morphed from a small-cap bitcoin‑hosting play into a high‑flying AI data‑center operator, with shares up roughly 300%+ this year and briefly touching $40 earlier in November. [8] - Fresh headline risk around leverage and funding.
- The company recently priced $2.35 billion of 9.25% senior secured notes due 2030, issued at 97% of face value, via its APLD ComputeCo subsidiary. [9]
- It also expects a $787.5 million equity draw from Macquarie Asset Management under a preferred equity facility of up to $5 billion. [10]
These moves have stirred debate about APLD’s cost of capital and balance‑sheet risk, even as they fund aggressive build‑outs.
- Big operational milestones that strengthen the long‑term story.
On November 24, Applied Digital announced that Phase II at its Polaris Forge 1 AI Factory Campus in Ellendale, North Dakota is now Ready for Service, fully energizing the first 100 MW building and advancing a 400 MW campus that’s fully contracted to AI cloud provider CoreWeave. [11]
In short, the stock is caught between short‑term selling pressure (after a big rally and heavy funding announcements) and a very bullish long‑term AI infrastructure story.
The big story: multi‑billion‑dollar AI “Factory” campuses
Applied Digital’s investment case is increasingly about its North Dakota AI campuses:
Polaris Forge 1 (Ellendale, North Dakota)
- 400 MW fully leased to CoreWeave.
A series of leases with AI cloud provider CoreWeave covers 400 MW of data center capacity and is expected to generate around $11 billion in lease revenue over roughly 15 years. [12] - First 100 MW building now fully energized.
The November 24 RFS announcement confirms that Building 1 at Polaris Forge 1 is now at full 100 MW critical IT load, marking completion of the first of three contracted buildings. [13] - Part of a much larger pipeline.
Management sees potential to expand Polaris Forge 1 beyond 1 GW over time, depending on power allocations, with multiple gigawatts of total capacity under development across campuses. [14]
Polaris Forge 2 (near Harwood, North Dakota)
- Anchor hyperscaler lease.
Applied Digital has signed a 200 MW, 15‑year lease with a U.S. investment‑grade hyperscaler at Polaris Forge 2, expected to generate about $5 billion in revenue. [15] - Right of first refusal on another 800 MW.
The same hyperscaler holds first right of refusal on an additional 800 MW, which would bring the campus to 1 GW of AI capacity if exercised. [16]
Contracted revenue pipeline
Between the CoreWeave and hyperscaler agreements, Applied Digital has built an estimated $16 billion long‑term contracted revenue pipeline — a huge number relative to its trailing‑12‑month revenue in the low‑hundreds of millions. [17]
That mismatch between current size and future contracted revenue is a big reason APLD has been framed as a “little‑known AI stock up 311% in 2025” that could still have room to run if it executes. [18]
Financial picture: fast growth, but still unprofitable
Applied Digital’s latest reported quarter (fiscal Q1 2026, for the period ended August 31, 2025) shows a business that’s scaling rapidly but still burning cash. [19]
Q1 2026 highlights
From continuing operations, the company reported: [20]
- Revenue:$64.2 million, up 84% year‑over‑year
- Net loss to common shareholders:$27.8 million (vs. a profit a year earlier)
- Net loss per share:$0.11
- Adjusted net loss:$7.6 million, or $0.03 per share
- Adjusted EBITDA: roughly $0.5 million (near breakeven)
By MarketBeat’s read‑through of the same quarter, APLD beat consensus estimates on both revenue (~$64.2M vs. ~$52.3M expected) and EPS (‑$0.03 vs. ‑$0.11 expected), but still posted deeply negative net margin and return on equity. [21]
Segment mix
The business spans three main segments: [22]
- HPC Hosting / AI Factories – lease‑driven AI and high‑performance computing data centers (e.g., Polaris Forge campuses)
- Data Center Hosting – facilities that provide power and space to bitcoin and crypto mining customers (e.g., Jamestown and legacy Ellendale sites)
- Cloud Services – GPU‑based AI cloud and other high‑performance computing services (currently under strategic review)
In Q1 2026:
- HPC Hosting: Tenant fit‑out and installation services brought in about $26 million of revenue — largely one‑time, lower‑margin work that paves the way for higher‑margin lease revenue later. [23]
- Data Center Hosting: Generated $37.9 million in revenue, up about 9% year‑over‑year, with both the 106 MW Jamestown facility and 180 MW Ellendale hosting site running near full capacity. [24]
Management has told investors that once Polaris Forge 1 is fully online, they are targeting an annualized NOI run rate of around $500 million, and longer‑term they see a path toward $1 billion in NOI over roughly five years as both campuses mature. [25]
Balance sheet, funding, and credit rating
To build multi‑gigawatt AI campuses at high speed, Applied Digital is using a mix of high‑coupon debt and structured equity.
$2.35 billion senior notes
On November 13, the company’s subsidiary APLD ComputeCo LLC priced $2.35 billion of 9.25% senior secured notes due 2030, issued at 97% of face value: [26]
- Proceeds will be used to:
- Fund construction of the 100 MW ELN‑02 and 150 MW ELN‑03 data centers at Polaris Forge 1
- Refinance an earlier credit facility led by Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
- Fund debt service reserves and transaction costs
- The notes are secured by first‑priority liens on substantially all assets of APLD Compute and its project subsidiaries, plus equity pledges; Applied Digital provides completion guarantees for the facilities. [27]
$787.5 million Macquarie equity draw & new credit line
On November 12, Applied Digital said it expects to draw an additional $787.5 million under its preferred equity facility with Macquarie Asset Management: [28]
- $450 million earmarked for Polaris Forge 2
- $337.5 million for Polaris Forge 1, contingent on the note offering closing
- A separate $65 million revolving and letter‑of‑credit facility with First National Bank of Omaha, at SOFR + 2.75%, secured by the parent company’s assets, adds liquidity flexibility. [29]
As of August 31, 2025, before these moves, the company reported about $114 million in cash and $687 million in debt, with over $1.6 billion invested in property and equipment — numbers that will grow meaningfully as the new debt and preferred equity are deployed. [30]
Credit rating
S&P Global Ratings has assigned Applied Digital a “B+” credit rating with a Positive outlook, citing the support from long‑term take‑or‑pay style leases but also flagging execution and leverage risks as the company ramps its AI data center build‑out. [31]
That rating places APLD firmly in speculative‑grade (junk) territory, which is common for high‑growth, capital‑intensive infrastructure stories that are still in the scaling phase.
What Wall Street and insiders are doing
Analyst ratings and price targets
Analysts remain broadly bullish, though not unanimously so:
- MarketBeat reports a “Moderate Buy” consensus from 13 analysts:
- 1 Strong Buy
- 11 Buy
- 1 Sell [32]
- The average 12‑month price target sits around $26.20, modestly above today’s ~$23.5. [33]
- Some firms remain much more aggressive:
- QuiverQuant’s tracking of recent research notes points to additional targets ranging from the teens to the low‑40s:
- JMP Securities at $35, Roth Capital at $43, and others between $13–$23, with a six‑month median target around $16 when older, lower estimates are included. [36]
In other words, near‑term upside implied by consensus is modest, but a cluster of high‑conviction bulls see considerably more potential if the AI build‑out and revenue ramp go as planned.
Insider and institutional activity
QuiverQuant and MarketBeat highlight heavy insider selling over the past six months: insiders have executed only sales (no open‑market buys), with CEO Wes Cummins and other executives and directors collectively selling hundreds of thousands of shares worth tens of millions of dollars. [37]
At the same time:
- Institutions and hedge funds own roughly 60–65% of the float, according to StockTitan and MarketBeat. [38]
- StockTitan estimates short interest at about 24% of the float, underscoring the stock’s popularity among both bulls and bears. [39]
That combination — high institutional ownership plus high short interest — helps explain APLD’s violent daily moves and occasional short squeezes.
Key risks for APLD stock
Even fans of the Applied Digital story generally acknowledge a significant risk profile:
- High volatility and speculative profile
With a beta near 6.8, APLD is far more volatile than the broader market and has logged frequent daily swings greater than 5–10%. [40] - Leverage and funding risk
The 9.25% coupon on the new notes and the reliance on preferred equity underline that APLD is accepting a relatively expensive cost of capital to move quickly. If AI infrastructure demand cools or lease ramp‑ups are delayed, servicing this capital stack could become painful. [41] - Execution risk on multi‑year projects
Management must design, build, and deliver hundreds of megawatts of high‑density, liquid‑cooled AI data centers on tight timelines — in partnership with a small set of very large customers. Any delays, cost overruns, or issues at Polaris Forge 1 or 2 could hit both earnings and investor confidence. [42] - Customer concentration and contract risk
A large portion of future revenue is tied to CoreWeave and a single unnamed hyperscaler. Changes in their strategies, financing, or workloads could materially impact APLD’s growth trajectory. [43] - Crypto exposure and macro factors
While the company has pivoted toward AI, its Data Center Hosting business still serves bitcoin miners, leaving it partially exposed to crypto price cycles in addition to broader AI and interest‑rate sentiment. [44]
What investors will be watching next
For traders and long‑term investors following APLD, several upcoming milestones look important:
- Final terms and closing of the $2.35B notes – Confirmation that the deal closes on schedule and as priced will reduce near‑term funding uncertainty. [45]
- Timing and structure of Macquarie’s $787.5M equity infusions – These draws are critical to completing Polaris Forge 1 & 2 on the current timeline. [46]
- Ramp‑up of lease revenue at Polaris Forge 1 now that the first 100 MW building is fully energized. Investors will be watching how quickly installation revenue transitions into recurring lease income. [47]
- Further AI campus announcements and power deals – Management continues to talk about a 4+ GW development pipeline; new sites or major new leases could alter the growth trajectory again. [48]
- Next earnings report – The market will want to see sustained revenue growth, improving cash generation, and a clearer path from today’s net losses toward the NOI targets management has laid out. [49]
Bottom line
On November 25, 2025, APLD stock is easing after a gap‑down open, trading below its recent highs but still far above where it started the year. Short‑term sentiment is being buffeted by concerns over leverage, insider selling, and AI‑sector volatility — even as Applied Digital hits key build‑out milestones and deepens its relationships with hyperscale AI customers.
For now, APLD remains a high‑beta, high‑risk AI infrastructure play: potentially powerful upside if its multi‑billion‑dollar lease pipeline converts into the NOI management promises, but with equally elevated downside if funding conditions tighten or execution stumbles.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or trading advice. Always do your own research or consult a licensed financial professional before making investment decisions.
References
1. finviz.com, 2. stockinvest.us, 3. stockinvest.us, 4. www.marketbeat.com, 5. www.marketbeat.com, 6. stockinvest.us, 7. www.marketbeat.com, 8. 247wallst.com, 9. ir.applieddigital.com, 10. ir.applieddigital.com, 11. ir.applieddigital.com, 12. ir.applieddigital.com, 13. ir.applieddigital.com, 14. ir.applieddigital.com, 15. ir.applieddigital.com, 16. ir.applieddigital.com, 17. ir.applieddigital.com, 18. finviz.com, 19. ir.applieddigital.com, 20. ir.applieddigital.com, 21. www.marketbeat.com, 22. ir.applieddigital.com, 23. ir.applieddigital.com, 24. ir.applieddigital.com, 25. ir.applieddigital.com, 26. ir.applieddigital.com, 27. ir.applieddigital.com, 28. ir.applieddigital.com, 29. ir.applieddigital.com, 30. ir.applieddigital.com, 31. www.spglobal.com, 32. www.marketbeat.com, 33. www.marketbeat.com, 34. www.marketbeat.com, 35. www.marketbeat.com, 36. www.quiverquant.com, 37. www.quiverquant.com, 38. www.stocktitan.net, 39. www.stocktitan.net, 40. www.marketbeat.com, 41. ir.applieddigital.com, 42. ir.applieddigital.com, 43. ir.applieddigital.com, 44. ir.applieddigital.com, 45. ir.applieddigital.com, 46. ir.applieddigital.com, 47. ir.applieddigital.com, 48. ir.applieddigital.com, 49. ir.applieddigital.com
