Applied Digital (APLD) surged over 7% in overnight trading after closing at $39.52, following the announcement of a major long-term lease agreement.
The stock has continued its strong monthly rally, gaining around 22%, although it still recorded a weekly decline of nearly 8%. The move reflects renewed investor focus on its expanding AI infrastructure pipeline.
The company said it has signed a 15-year take-or-pay lease with the same U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler previously partnered at Delta Forge 1.
The deal is tied to Polaris Forge 3, a new AI Factory campus designed for 300 MW of critical IT load supported by ~430 MW of grid power. The agreement carries about $7.5B in base contracted revenue and up to $18.2B including options.
With this, Applied Digital now has roughly $31B in contracted lease revenue across four campuses, rising to $73B including renewals, with 1.2 GW of IT load and 1,670 MW of total utility capacity.
The company noted ~65% of revenue is backed by investment-grade hyperscalers, including ties to CoreWeave (CRWV).
Polaris Forge 3 spans over 600 acres and integrates waterless cooling technology, with operations expected to begin in August 2027.
According to a Seeking Alpha analyst, valuation concerns remain, with APLD trading near 23x FY27 sales versus Core Scientific (CORZ) at 14x CY26 sales.
Ratings remain mixed, with quant “hold,” Seeking Alpha analysts “buy,” and Wall Street consensus “strong buy.” The stock still outperformed the S&P 500 (SP500) index, delivering 52.61% YTD gains versus 8.43%.
