Applied Digital (APLD +4.97%) stock scored another day of big gains Thursday. The data center company's share price rose 9% in the session and had been up as much as 10.7% earlier in the day. Meanwhile, the S&P 500 (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC) rose 0.6% in the session, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX: ^IXIC) jumped 0.9%.
Applied Digital stock saw strong bullish momentum today thanks to a major price-target increase from an analyst. The tech specialist share price is now up approximately 337% year to date.
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Applied Digital stock pops on price-target hike
Before the market opened this morning, Craig-Hallum published new coverage on Applied Digital stock. The investment firm reiterated a buy rating on the stock and increased its one-year price target from $37 per share to $39 per share. The price-target increase comes on the heels of an announcement yesterday that Applied Digital had signed a new $5 billion data-center services lease. While it's currently unknown who Applied Digital's newest big customer is, it's clearly a big win for the company.
NASDAQ: APLD
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What's next for Applied Digital?
Applied Digital stock has seen some volatile swings across 2025's trading, but it's still managed to post explosive gains across the stretch. As demand for artificial intelligence (AI) computation capabilities has surged, the company's performance outlook has become increasingly promising.
On the other hand, investors still have to keep valuation concerns in mind. Following its recent rally, Applied Digital is now valued at approximately 31 times this year's expected sales. While it seems clear that AI data centers will continue to play a huge role in pushing technology and other sectors forward, there are still some significant questions surrounding the near-term growth trajectory for the artificial intelligence market and the levels of profitability that customers will be achieving on their investment in infrastructure and services.
