Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: APLD) is back in focus today as the high‑beta AI data‑center stock rebounds from last week’s slide, while options traders pile into aggressive call contracts. With billions of dollars in long‑term AI infrastructure leases and a fresh $2.35 billion debt deal in motion, APLD is one of the purest public plays on hyperscale AI compute — but also one of the most volatile.
Below is a full breakdown of what’s moving APLD stock today, 18 November 2025, and how the latest news fits into the bigger investment story.
APLD stock price today – 18 November 2025
Price action
- Pre‑market this morning, Applied Digital traded around $22.38, according to Benzinga’s quote page for APLD. [1]
- As regular trading progressed, data from Robinhood and other quote providers shows APLD trading around $24.7, up roughly 8% on the day, with an intraday range near $22.7–$24.9. [2]
- Yesterday (17 November) the stock closed at $22.94, so even with today’s bounce shares remain well below their early‑November levels above $30. [3]
Context
- Over the last week of trading, APLD has fallen from about $31.0 on 7 November to the mid‑$20s today, a drop of roughly 20%, even after today’s rebound. [4]
- The stock’s 52‑week range runs from about $3.31 to $40.20, illustrating just how extreme the volatility has been in 2025. [5]
- Based on recent quotes, the company’s market capitalization sits around $6–7 billion, depending on the exact intraday price. [6]
Despite the ugly pullback from October highs, APLD is still up well over 200% year‑to‑date, as investors crowd into AI infrastructure names. Zacks recently pegged the year‑to‑date gain at about 209%, while Reuters reported a peak gain of over 325% earlier in the year before the recent correction. [7]
Today’s big story: 71,000 call options hit the tape
The most eye‑catching new development around APLD as of 18 November 2025 is not a fresh press release, but a surge in options trading activity that continues to reverberate through the stock today.
The 71K‑contract call trade
A new Barchart column published this week highlights a huge block of call options that traded in APLD on Friday, 14 November: [8]
- Roughly 71,000 contracts of the weekly $25 calls expiring 28 November traded in a single session.
- Going into that day, open interest in that line was just 176 contracts, meaning almost the entire volume represented new positions.
- APLD shares closed around $23.65 that day, with the calls near $1.50. That implies a breakeven around $26.50, roughly 12% above the stock’s closing price at the time.
The Barchart analysis points out that this trade could represent:
- A directional bullish bet on a sharp rebound into late November, or
- A delta‑neutral or hedged position (e.g., selling calls against long stock) aimed at monetizing rich option premiums. [9]
Either way, the $25 strike and the ~$26.50 breakeven have become important reference points for short‑term traders watching APLD into U.S. Thanksgiving and the 28 November expiry.
Ongoing options frenzy today
Fresh options data also shows unusually active trading in APLD contracts today, 18 November:
- A note from Moomoo highlights around 78,800 APLD options contracts traded today, with calls dominating the flow. [10]
- MarketBeat’s options page shows heavy volume clustered around near‑term strikes between $20 and $26 for the 21 November expiration, with both calls and puts trading at elevated implied volatility levels. [11]
Taken together, the 71k‑contract call trade from last week plus today’s high options volume suggest APLD has become a battleground between speculative bulls, hedged institutions and short sellers ahead of key funding and execution milestones.
Why APLD became an AI infrastructure favorite
Even before the options fireworks, Applied Digital had already cemented itself as one of the purest public plays on AI data‑center infrastructure.
CoreWeave leases and Polaris Forge 1
Applied Digital’s early inflection point came from its deepening relationship with CoreWeave, a fast‑growing AI cloud provider:
- At the Polaris Forge 1 campus in Ellendale, North Dakota, the company has fully leased 400 MW of capacity to CoreWeave under multi‑year agreements. [12]
- Across these leases, the company expects around $11 billion in contracted revenue over roughly 15 years. [13]
That long‑dated, contracted revenue base has been a key reason investors were willing to award APLD a premium multiple versus traditional hosting or crypto‑mining peers.
New $5 billion hyperscaler lease at Polaris Forge 2
The next leg of the growth story is Polaris Forge 2, a 1‑gigawatt (“1 GW”) AI campus outside Harwood, North Dakota:
- On 22 October 2025, Applied Digital announced a 15‑year lease with a U.S.‑based investment‑grade hyperscaler for 200 MW at Polaris Forge 2.
- The deal is expected to generate about $5 billion in contracted revenue over the term. [14]
- The hyperscaler also obtained a right of first refusal on an additional 800 MW, which would fully build out the 1 GW campus if exercised. [15]
After this agreement, Applied’s total leased capacity across its North Dakota campuses (Polaris Forge 1 and 2) rose to 600 MW, split between CoreWeave and this new hyperscale customer. [16]
Design and efficiency advantages
Polaris Forge 2 showcases the company’s technical ambitions:
- The campus is engineered for a power usage effectiveness (PUE) target around 1.18 and near‑zero water consumption, emphasizing both efficiency and sustainability. [17]
- It is built for high‑density, liquid‑cooled AI and HPC workloads, aligning with the thermal and power demands of modern GPU clusters. [18]
This “AI factory” positioning — reinforced by an industry award for “Best Data Center in the Americas 2025” from Datacloud — has helped APLD command attention far beyond its small‑cap roots. [19]
Recent financial results: rapid growth, heavy spending
Fiscal Q1 2026 numbers
On 9 October 2025, Applied Digital reported fiscal Q1 2026 results that underlined both its growth and its investment needs: [20]
- Continuing‑operations revenue: $64.2 million, up about 84% year over year.
- Net loss attributable to common shareholders: $27.8 million, or –$0.11 per share.
- Adjusted net loss: $7.6 million (–$0.03 per share).
- Adjusted EBITDA: roughly $0.5 million.
Costs are rising even faster than revenue:
- Cost of revenues climbed about 144% year over year.
- SG&A expenses jumped around 165% versus the prior year period. [21]
The company ended the quarter with $114 million in cash and about $687 million in debt, excluding several hundred million dollars of financing that arrived after quarter‑end. [22]
How the market reacted
Initially, the market cheered the Q1 print and the company’s accelerated build‑out:
- GuruFocus and other outlets note that APLD shares rallied from roughly $29 to nearly $37 in the days following the earnings release. [23]
But that enthusiasm didn’t last:
- Barchart’s analysis points out that the stock has since slid back toward the low‑$20s, erasing much of the post‑earnings surge as investors reassess valuation and funding risks. [24]
New $2.35 billion notes offering: big fuel, big obligations
One of the most important pieces of recent news feeding into today’s trading is Applied Digital’s massive senior notes deal.
The 9.25% senior secured notes due 2030
On 13 November 2025, the company announced that its subsidiary APLD ComputeCo LLC had priced $2.35 billion of senior secured notes: [25]
- Principal amount: $2.35 billion.
- Coupon: 9.25%, with the notes priced at 97% of face value, implying an even higher effective yield.
- Maturity: 2030.
- Structure: senior secured notes, with first‑priority liens on substantially all APLD Compute assets and guarantees from subsidiaries.
The offering is a private Rule 144A deal targeting qualified institutional buyers, and is expected to close around 20 November 2025, subject to customary closing conditions. [26]
Use of proceeds
According to the Investing.com summary of the transaction, the company plans to use proceeds to: [27]
- Fund construction of two data centers at its North Dakota AI campus:
- A 100 MW facility (ELN‑02).
- A 150 MW facility (ELN‑03).
- Refinance existing bank debt under a February 2025 credit agreement with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation.
- Establish debt service reserves and cover transaction expenses.
The article also reiterates that APLD has already:
- Completed the first 50 MW phase at Polaris Forge 1 (part of the fully leased 400 MW for CoreWeave).
- Arranged up to $787.5 million in equity funding from Macquarie Asset Management to support further North Dakota AI campus build‑outs. [28]
Bottom line: the notes deal dramatically increases Applied Digital’s financial firepower, but also locks in high‑cost, long‑dated debt, magnifying both upside and downside if execution or AI demand falters.
Analyst sentiment: bullish growth story, stretched valuation
Wall Street’s view on APLD is far from unanimous.
Strong growth narrative
- Public.com aggregates ratings from 10 analysts, showing a “Strong Buy” consensus for APLD, with a central price target around the mid‑$20s. [29]
- One recent highlight: Citizens raised its price target to $35 in October, citing Applied Digital’s strengthening position in AI infrastructure after its CoreWeave and Macquarie deals. [30]
At today’s mid‑$20s price, that implies upside of roughly 40–50% if those bullish targets prove accurate.
Valuation concerns and a Zacks “Hold”
A new Zacks research note published 17 November (syndicated by Nasdaq) injects a more cautious tone: [31]
- Zacks assigns APLD a Value Score of “F”, pointing to a forward 12‑month price‑to‑sales multiple near 16.8x, vastly higher than the ~3x average for its broader financial services peer group.
- The stock trades at a premium even to fast‑growing peers like Riot Platforms and data‑center giant Equinix, which Zacks estimates in the 7x range on the same metric.
- While the firm acknowledges the $11 billion CoreWeave revenue visibility, a 700 MW projects under construction and an estimated 4 GW longer‑term pipeline, it concludes that a lot of this story is already embedded in the share price.
Zacks currently rates the stock “Rank #3 (Hold)”, suggesting existing shareholders may simply stay put, while new investors wait for a better entry point.
Technical picture: momentum broken, volatility elevated
From a chart and indicator perspective, APLD has flipped from momentum favorite to corrective phase in just a few sessions.
- Investing.com’s technical summary for APLD today (based on 1‑day indicators as of late morning GMT) flags the stock as a “Strong Sell”, with nine bearish signals to two neutral and no outright bullish readings. [32]
- The 14‑day Relative Strength Index (RSI) sits in the low‑30s (roughly 33), indicating the stock is nearing oversold territory, but not yet deeply so. [33]
- Benzinga data shows short interest close to 31% of float, with days‑to‑cover around 2.6, underscoring how heavily short sellers are engaged here. [34]
Combine that with today’s options action — tens of thousands of near‑term contracts and the 71k‑call trade tied to the $25 strike — and you have a stock primed for sharp squeezes in both directions over the coming weeks. [35]
Key risks investors should keep in mind
Even for investors excited about AI infrastructure, APLD is not a low‑risk story. Key issues as of today include:
- Capital intensity & leverage
- The business model requires multi‑billion‑dollar capex and high‑yield debt, like the new 9.25% notes. Execution or demand hiccups could strain the balance sheet. [36]
- Customer concentration
- A large portion of contracted revenue is tied to a small number of hyperscale customers, particularly CoreWeave and the unnamed investment‑grade hyperscaler. Any renegotiation, delay or credit issue could materially impact the story. [37]
- Execution risk on mega‑projects
- Polaris Forge 1 and 2 involve hundreds of megawatts of high‑density capacity, complex cooling, and tight timelines. Construction delays, cost overruns, or power‑infrastructure challenges would likely be punished by the market. [38]
- Valuation and sentiment swings
- With a forward revenue multiple several times higher than peers, even minor disappointments can trigger outsized drawdowns — as seen in the 30–40% slide from October highs. [39]
- Regulatory and macro uncertainty
- Changes in energy policy, data‑center zoning, environmental regulation or credit conditions could affect both the cost and pace of APLD’s expansion.
So, is APLD a buy, sell, or hold on 18 November 2025?
No single label fits every investor, but based on public information as of today:
- Short‑term traders
- APLD is acting like a pure momentum and volatility vehicle.
- The $25 strike and ~$26.50 breakeven from the 71k‑contract call trade are key near‑term levels to watch. A break above could fuel a squeeze; repeated failures might embolden shorts. [40]
- Growth‑oriented investors with high risk tolerance
- The bull case rests on APLD becoming a scaled AI data‑center landlord, with $16+ billion in contracted revenue already lined up across CoreWeave and the new hyperscaler, plus a multi‑gigawatt pipeline. [41]
- If management executes and AI compute demand stays strong, current volatility may end up looking like noise on a much longer‑term uptrend.
- Value and risk‑conscious investors
- The Zacks “Hold” rating, Value Score F, and forward P/S near 16–17x underscore that the stock is priced for aggressive success. [42]
- Combined with high debt costs and significant customer concentration, that means very little margin of safety if the AI build‑out slows or capital markets tighten.
For now, the consensus picture looks something like this:
APLD is a high‑conviction growth story for AI infrastructure bulls, but also a high‑volatility speculationwhere timing, risk management, and position sizing matter as much as the fundamental thesis.
As always, this article is for informational and educational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Anyone considering APLD should carefully review the company’s latest SEC filings, earnings calls, and risk disclosures, and consider speaking with a qualified financial adviser before making investment decisions.
References
1. www.benzinga.com, 2. robinhood.com, 3. www.investing.com, 4. www.investing.com, 5. www.investing.com, 6. www.wallstreetzen.com, 7. www.nasdaq.com, 8. www.barchart.com, 9. www.barchart.com, 10. www.moomoo.com, 11. www.marketbeat.com, 12. www.stocktitan.net, 13. www.stocktitan.net, 14. ir.applieddigital.com, 15. ir.applieddigital.com, 16. ir.applieddigital.com, 17. ir.applieddigital.com, 18. ir.applieddigital.com, 19. ir.applieddigital.com, 20. www.stocktitan.net, 21. www.stocktitan.net, 22. www.stocktitan.net, 23. www.barchart.com, 24. www.barchart.com, 25. www.investing.com, 26. www.investing.com, 27. www.investing.com, 28. www.investing.com, 29. public.com, 30. www.investing.com, 31. www.nasdaq.com, 32. www.investing.com, 33. www.investing.com, 34. www.benzinga.com, 35. www.barchart.com, 36. www.investing.com, 37. www.stocktitan.net, 38. ir.applieddigital.com, 39. www.nasdaq.com, 40. www.barchart.com, 41. www.stocktitan.net, 42. www.nasdaq.com
