APLD Stock Falls 6% Despite Strong Q3 Earnings—Reasons Ahead

TLDR

• Applied Digital reported an adjusted EPS of $0.09, surpassing Wall Street’s prediction of a $0.16 per share loss
• Sales surged 139% from the previous year to reach $126.64 million, significantly exceeding the $75.5 million forecast
• APLD shares climbed 10% in Wednesday’s regular trading session, only to fall 6.2% during Thursday’s premarket session
• The firm’s initial 100 MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled data center has become fully operational
• CEO Wes Cummins stated that demand from hyperscalers is “as aggressive as we have ever seen”

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(SeaPRwire) –   Applied Digital recorded one of its most robust quarters in history, yet the market responded with indifference—for the moment.

$APLD (Applied Digital) #earnings are out: pic.twitter.com/9IdfBetx3y

— The Earnings Correspondent (@earnings_guy) April 8, 2026

The AI data-center developer, headquartered in Dallas, announced fiscal third-quarter adjusted earnings of $0.09 per share, significantly outperforming Wall Street’s consensus expectation of a $0.16 loss. By any standard, this represents a substantial difference.

Total revenue reached $126.64 million, a 139% increase from the prior year and almost almost double the $75.5 million projected by analysts. Adjusted revenue also topped forecasts, coming in at $108.6 million.

Applied Digital Corporation, APLD

Although the results beat expectations, APLD shares fell 6.2% to $26.07 in Thursday’s premarket trading. The stock had previously jumped 10% to $27.79 on Wednesday, aided partly by a wider market rally spurred by reports of a ceasefire in the Iran conflict. The Nasdaq rose by 2.8% that same day.

A sell-off following strong earnings is not uncommon when a stock has rallied significantly leading up to the report. Investors who purchased during the uptick engaged in profit-taking upon the news release.

Hyperscaler Demand Picks Up

CEO Wes Cummins highlighted a distinct change in customer behavior. “We are observing a marked acceleration in the need for high-performance AI data center capacity, with hyperscalers displaying more aggression than we have ever witnessed,” he remarked in the earnings announcement.

Management also verified that its inaugural 100 MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled data center is now fully online and generated revenue for the entirety of the third quarter.

Earlier in January, the company disclosed it was engaged in “advanced discussions” with an investment-grade hyperscaler regarding 900 megawatts of power across three locations, with a potential agreement finalization in early 2026.

In August 2025, Applied Digital secured a new lease with CoreWeave for an extra 150 MW data center located in North Dakota. This agreement increased its total projected contracted lease revenue to approximately $11 billion, incorporating $7 billion secured from two 15-year leases executed in May 2025.

Stock Context

Year-to-date, APLD has gained approximately 13%, following a remarkable 2025 during which the stock soared 221%—significantly surpassing the Nasdaq’s 20% rise over the corresponding timeframe.

Despite this, the stock remains 74% under its record closing peak of $107.28, which was attained in August 2023, per Dow Jones Market Data.

Its present market capitalization is $7.77 billion, accompanied by an average daily trading volume exceeding 24 million shares.

Technical sentiment indicates a buy signal going into the upcoming trading session.