Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (APLD) are up in after-hours trading after the AI data center company reported earnings for its first quarter of Fiscal Year 2026. Earnings per share came in at -$0.11, which beat analysts’ consensus estimate of -$0.13 per share. In addition, sales increased by 84% year-over-year, with revenue hitting $64.2 million. This smashed analysts’ expectations of nearly $50 million.
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Interestingly, Applied Digital secured a major 150 MW lease with CoreWeave (CRWV) at its Polaris Forge 1 campus, thereby fully leasing the site and locking in around $11 billion in expected revenue over 15 years. The company also began construction at its second campus, Polaris Forge 2, which is designed to eventually reach one gigawatt in capacity. To support these projects, Applied raised over $360 million in funding and drew from a $5 billion equity facility with Macquarie.
Separately, its high-performance computing (HPC) and crypto data center hosting businesses are also progressing. The first 100 MW HPC facility is on track to go live by late 2025 and generated $26 million this quarter from installation work. Meanwhile, crypto mining operations earned $37.9 million, a 9% increase from last year. Despite rising revenues, overall expenses also climbed due to business expansion, which led to a net loss of $27.8 million for the quarter. However, Applied remains focused on long-term growth and reaching a projected $1 billion in annual net operating income over the next five years.
Is APLD Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on APLD stock based on 8 Buys, one Hold, and zero Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average APLD price target of $26.19 per share implies 10.5% downside risk. However, it’s worth noting that estimates will likely change following today’s earnings report.
