Applied Digital Stock Is Down, But Its AI Data Center Business Is Powering Up. What Gives?
Despite the company’s rapid pace of deal-making, its stock has faltered, creating a disconnect that merits examination.
Applied Digital (APLD) is in the business of building large-scale, power-hungry data centers for the AI revolution, and by all accounts, business is booming. On its latest earnings call, management announced it had secured contracts for five campuses, creating $36 billion of total contracted long-term lease value. The company is executing on a clear strategy: build the “AI factory” infrastructure that hyperscalers desperately need, and do it on time and on budget. Yet, even as the business signs deals that will shape its future for years, the stock has pulled back about 14% from its recent high.
The drop forces investors to weigh the company’s clear operational momentum against questions about its valuation. Let’s look at the evidence.
The Track Record For Buying Applied Digital On Weakness
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For starters, what does history say about buying this stock after a sharp fall? Looking back at every time APLD has dropped 20% or more over a 30-day period, the record offers some encouragement, but it comes with a serious catch. Of the 50 past dips with a full year of data, 29 were followed by a positive return over the next twelve months. The median return a year later was 36%. However, patience and a strong stomach were required. The median worst further drawdown after buying one of these dips was a painful 40%, meaning things often got much worse before they got better.
APLD had 53 events since 1/1/2010 where the dip threshold of -20% within 30 days was triggered
- 156% median peak return within 1 year of dip event
- 152 days is the median time to peak return after a dip event
- -40% median max drawdown within 1 year of dip event
| Period | Past Median Return |
|---|---|
| 1M | 0.0% |
| 3M | 8.3% |
| 6M | 21% |
| 12M | 36% |
| 30 Day Dip | APLD Subsequent Performance | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Date | APLD | SPY | 1Y | Peak Return |
Max Drop |
# Days to Peak |
||
| Median | 36% | 156% | -40% | 152 | ||||
| 7072026 | -36% | 1% | -24% | 2 | ||||
| 2252026 | -24% | -0% | -29% | 92 | ||||
| 11202025 | -27% | -3% | -4% | 189 | ||||
| 7222025 | -21% | 5% | 175% | 353% | -8% | 310 | ||
| 1102025 | -22% | -3% | 351% | 361% | -59% | 367 | ||
| 8022024 | -30% | -2% | 236% | 251% | -26% | 368 | ||
| 1242024 | -27% | 6% | 35% | 123% | -50% | 306 | ||
| 11092023 | -25% | 1% | 60% | 92% | -50% | 348 | ||
| 7202023 | -20% | 6% | -31% | 32% | -69% | 5 | ||
| 3102023 | -29% | -5% | 130% | 448% | 0% | 137 | ||
| 12072022 | -28% | 2% | 311% | 540% | -6% | 230 | ||
| 9232022 | -26% | -12% | 257% | 544% | -5% | 305 | ||
| 5112022 | -30% | -15% | 18% | 98% | -64% | 21 | ||
| 1252022 | -30% | -7% | -3% | 80% | -67% | 127 | ||
| 12012021 | -21% | -0% | -33% | 71% | -69% | 182 | ||
| 8132021 | -23% | 4% | 58% | 249% | -39% | 74 | ||
| 6042021 | -24% | 3% | 418% | 502% | 0% | 144 | ||
| 11202020 | -24% | 2% | 38409% | 44286% | 0% | 340 | ||
| 7292020 | -46% | 4% | 15456% | 25456% | 0% | 278 | ||
| 4202020 | -43% | -5% | 11872% | 11872% | 0% | 365 | ||
| 3102020 | -41% | -11% | 3393% | 4125% | 0% | 352 | ||
| 1152020 | -42% | 6% | 581% | 593% | -1% | 334 | ||
| 10082019 | -33% | 1% | -2% | 98% | -60% | 275 | ||
| 8142019 | -51% | -4% | -20% | 100% | -60% | 330 | ||
| 4162019 | -29% | 4% | 100% | 155% | -50% | 77 | ||
| 1232019 | -21% | 1% | -17% | 158% | -49% | 160 | ||
| 7112018 | -50% | 3% | -21% | 59% | -38% | 356 | ||
| 1222018 | -34% | 8% | 65% | 717% | -40% | 130 | ||
| 11092017 | -46% | 3% | 79% | 600% | -49% | 204 | ||
| 5082017 | -27% | 2% | -67% | 18% | -82% | 143 | ||
| 9192016 | -22% | -2% | -42% | 62% | -83% | 59 | ||
| 7142016 | -23% | 3% | -30% | 95% | -80% | 126 | ||
| 4272016 | -27% | 4% | -1% | 61% | -33% | 204 | ||
| 1152016 | -24% | -9% | -7% | 50% | -23% | 307 | ||
| 11032015 | -29% | 9% | 57% | 67% | -17% | 43 | ||
| 5132015 | -30% | 2% | -7% | 74% | -13% | 90 | ||
| 11262014 | -35% | 11% | 36% | 147% | 0% | 258 | ||
| 9162014 | -49% | 3% | 179% | 228% | 0% | 329 | ||
| 4112014 | -24% | -2% | 21% | 193% | -56% | 192 | ||
| 2202014 | -47% | 0% | 153% | 525% | -6% | 11 | ||
| 12022013 | -52% | 4% | 335% | 770% | -22% | 91 | ||
| 10232013 | -43% | 4% | 418% | 614% | -36% | 131 | ||
| 7232013 | -76% | 3% | 245% | 900% | -10% | 223 | ||
| 2142013 | -75% | 4% | 140% | 240% | -40% | 116 | ||
| 11132012 | -29% | -4% | 12% | 296% | -40% | 50 | ||
| 6042012 | -25% | -7% | -67% | 120% | -67% | 212 | ||
| 12052011 | -25% | 2% | -83% | 0% | -92% | 0 | ||
| 10132011 | -50% | -1% | -85% | 100% | -94% | 46 | ||
| 6032011 | -25% | -2% | -90% | 11% | -97% | 4 | ||
| 3182011 | -23% | -2% | -97% | 60% | -98% | 5 | ||
| 2152011 | -29% | 5% | -84% | 60% | -98% | 27 | ||
| 12102010 | -33% | 5% | -80% | 167% | -80% | 94 | ||
| 1042010 | -40% | 2% | -22% | 78% | -67% | 2 | ||
[2] Analysis for period from 1/1/2010 to 8/26/2026
But This Only Works If The Business Is Sound
Of course, a stock’s past performance is no guarantee, and buying a dip only makes sense if the underlying business is solid. On that front, Applied Digital checks the boxes. The company’s revenue grew 229% over the last twelve months, and its operating cash flow margin stands at a healthy 15.6%. On a simple scorecard of growth, cash generation, and balance-sheet strength, the business clears every basic quality check, suggesting this is a fundamentally sound operation, not a broken one.
| Quality Metrics | Value | Quality Check |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue Growth (LTM) | 229% | Pass |
| Revenue Growth (3-Yr Avg) | 145% | Pass |
| Operating Cash Flow Margin (LTM) | 15.6% | Pass |
Is The Dip Buy Going To Work This Time?
The business itself appears to be firing on all cylinders. Management reports that all of its current construction projects are on time and on budget, a critical differentiator in an industry where, according to them, roughly 90% of large projects are delivered late or over budget. The company is also successfully lowering its cost of capital, a key advantage in this capital-intensive field. On the latest call, the CFO noted that by restructuring leases at one campus, they were able to place $1.5 billion in notes at 7%, which was “225 basis points inside our first placement.”
Despite these operational wins, the source of investor hesitation appears to be the price of that growth. Even after the recent pullback, investors are still paying a premium valuation for the stock. A key question on the earnings call was whether the company accepted “lower yields or yield to development cost kind of in relation to your peers” to secure its major new contracts. The market seems to be weighing whether that long-term foundation was built at the expense of near-term profitability. For investors who like the AI infrastructure theme but are wary of single-company execution risk, a technology ETF like VGT offers broader exposure.
The critical data point to watch in the next earnings report around October 7th will be the profit margins attached to its major new contracts.
Which Recent Selloffs Have A Record Of Bouncing Back?
The same two questions you just asked about Applied Digital apply to every pullback: has the stock fallen far enough to matter, and does its kind of dip tend to recover. Plenty of other quality names sell off in any given week, and most never make the headlines. Our Buy The Dip rankings screen the market’s recent declines and how past dips of that size have played out, so you can see which discounts have history on their side before you act.
Would The Next Dip Hurt You Or Pay You?
Buying a dip works best when the position is sized so the next dip cannot hurt you. Concentration tends to arrive by accident rather than by decision. What your largest position would do to your net worth is exactly what the Trefis Wealth team computes, with the same rules-based systematic discipline that runs our High Quality Portfolio. Request a free vulnerability audit of your biggest positions.