Applied Digital (APLD) has quickly become one of the standout names in the AI infrastructure space, driven by explosive demand for data center capacity from large cloud and hyperscale customers. The company (once known primarily for crypto-mining hosting) has pivoted successfully to high-performance computing (HPC) and AI workloads, and investors have eaten it up.
Huge Gains So Far in 2026
After an already remarkable run in 2025 (the stock more than doubled in 2025 alone), shares are up roughly 35% year to date, largely on the heels of the company’s latest earnings report.
Applied Digital’s most recent quarterly results (for fiscal Q2 2026, reported after market close on January 7, 2026) soundly beat expectations, driving shares higher by 16% on Thursday as of midday.
Key results from the quarter:
- Revenue surged to ~$126.6 million, up 250% from the year-ago period and well above analyst forecasts.
- On an adjusted basis, the company broke even on earnings, beating expectations of a loss and beating Wall Street forecasts.
- The company announced a 15‑year lease with a “U.S. based investment‑grade hyperscaler for 200MW of AI and HPC capacity at the under‑construction Polaris Forge 2 campus, with phased delivery across two buildings beginning in 2026.”
This earnings beat underscores Applied Digital’s rapid revenue growth and strengthens the story that it can scale its AI data center business in a meaningful way.
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What’s Behind the Growth Story
Applied Digital’s platform focuses on high-performance AI infrastructure, from data center design and construction to long-term leases with hyperscale cloud players and other AI compute customers.
Large hyperscaler leases: The company has announced multi-year, multi-billion-dollar data center agreements that lock in revenue with AI workload tenants.
Accelerating demand for AI compute capacity: As major enterprise and hyperscale customers expand AI operations, demand for specialized data center space and services continues to rise.
Pivot away from legacy businesses: The company has moved past crypto with more emphasis on AI and HPC infrastructure that commands higher utilization and longer contracts.
While the results speak for themselves, it’s important to keep in mind that the company is still subject to the same risks as other AI-focused names, and given its reliance on data center build-out demand, those risks are likely amplified.
Applied Digital (APLD): The Stock
Applied Digital IPO’d in April of 2022, originally placing $40 million in shares at 5 per share, and quickly cratered. The post-IPO “droop” and 2022’s bear market dragged shares down to a buck before they stabilized and began base-building around 2.
Shares spent the next two years capped by the low double digits (around 10-12) with support in the 2-4 range.
But CoreWeave-related news last summer busted shares out of that range to the upside and triggered a “Golden Cross” on the weekly chart on massive volume.
Since then, shares have continued to rally, hitting all-time highs at 40 in October before AI weakness cut shares in half by the end of November.
Right now, shares are contending with overhead resistance near their consolidation range from late October, but if they can start hitting fresh highs above 40, there’s nothing but white space ahead of them.
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*This post has been updated from a previously published version to reflect market conditions.
