Applied Digital (APLD) surged more than 14% on Thursday after the company announced a $7.5 billion, 15‑year lease agreement with a new U.S.-based, high-investment‑grade hyperscaler. This marks one of the largest deals in its history and reflects its AI‑focused data center strategy.
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Trade APLD with leverageThe deal covers 300 megawatts (MW) of critical IT load at Applied Digital’s Delta Forge 1 AI Factory, a 430‑MW campus built for large‑scale AI and high-performance computing. The new tenant becomes the company’s second U.S. investment-grade hyperscaler, boosting Applied Digital’s long‑term revenue visibility.
With this deal, Applied Digital’s contracted lease revenue now tops $23 billion, and more than half of it is backed by investment-grade customers.
“We remain focused on delivering operational AI capacity at scale,” said CEO Wes Cummins. He called the agreement an important step in diversifying the company’s customer base and improving revenue stability.
Additional Financing in Motion
Alongside the lease announcement, Applied Digital said it expects to secure up to $300 million in bridge financing to continue developing the 150-MW Building 3 at its Polaris Forge 1 campus, as well as up to $300 million in revolving credit to support development across its platform.
Both financing facilities are expected to close soon and will be provided by a syndicate of bank lenders.
Major Win in the AI Infrastructure Race
The deal arrives as demand for AI-optimized data centers accelerates across major cloud and tech companies. By securing another blue-chip hyperscaler, Applied Digital positions itself as a key infrastructure provider in the rapidly expanding AI compute market.
Investors responded quickly, sending the stock sharply higher as the agreement points to long‑term, meaningful growth potential.
Is APLD a Strong Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on APLD stock based on seven Buys assigned in the last three months. Further, the average Applied Digital price target of $46.67 per share implies 26.78% upside potential.
