APLD Doubles Down on AI/ML Hosting With Landmark CoreWeave Lease

Core Insights - Applied Digital (APLD) has secured a significant 250 MW, 15-year lease agreement with CoreWeave, projected to generate approximately $7 billion in revenues [1][6] - The deal includes phased delivery of 100 MW by Q4 2025 and 150 MW by mid-2026, with an option for an additional 150 MW [1] - APLD is transitioning from a hybrid operator to a pure-play AI/HPC infrastructure platform, focusing on AI hosting environments [2] Company Strategy - APLD is divesting its Cloud Services business to concentrate on delivering tailored AI hosting solutions, aiming for a capacity of 1 GW and considering a REIT conversion [2][6] - The Ellendale campus is designed for power-dense deployments, utilizing liquid cooling and benefiting from low-cost energy, making it suitable for compute-heavy workloads [1][6] Competitive Landscape - CoreWeave, as APLD's anchor tenant, is enhancing its position in GPU-powered infrastructure, having raised over $1 billion to expand its data-center network [3] - Equinix is also adapting to the AI landscape by deploying GPU-enabled setups and has announced a joint venture to raise over $15 billion for expanding its xScale data centers [4] Financial Performance - APLD's shares have increased by 70.4% year-to-date, contrasting with a 3.5% decline in the industry [5] - The forward price-to-sales ratio for APLD stands at 12.42, significantly above the industry average and its five-year median of 1.42 [8] - The Zacks Consensus Estimate for APLD's fiscal 2026 earnings indicates a year-over-year rise of 73.6% [10]