Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Why Are Losses Widening as Data Center Revenue Soars?

Aditi Sarkar

16 October 2026 05:11 PM AEDT

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) Why Are Losses Widening as Data Center Revenue Soars?

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Highlights

Applied Digital (Nasdaq: APLD), which builds and operates data centres for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on 7 October.
The net loss attributable to common stockholders from continuing operations was $221.0 million, or $0.76 per share, and $237.1 million, or $0.82 per share, after discontinued operations.
The company's HPC Hosting segment generated $262.6 million of revenue, comprising $65.8 million of base rent, $183.5 million of tenant fit-out and $13.3 million of tenant recoveries.
Management also excludes ChronoScale, a business in which it holds about 96%, from non-GAAP figures.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD), which builds and operates data centres for high-performance computing and artificial intelligence, reported fiscal first-quarter 2027 results on 7 October 2026 for the quarter ended 31 August. Total revenue was $341.9 million, up 322% from $80.9 million a year earlier. Services revenue accounted for $262.8 million of the total, with data centre rental and other revenue of $79.1 million.

Profit measures moved differently. The net loss attributable to common stockholders from continuing operations was $221.0 million, or $0.76 per share, and $237.1 million, or $0.82 per share, after discontinued operations. Adjusted net loss was $4.1 million, or $0.01 per diluted share, and adjusted EBITDA was $64.4 million, compared with $0.5 million a year earlier. Adjusted measures are non-GAAP and exclude items that the statutory loss includes, so the two sets of figures should be read side by side.

What drove the numbers

The company's HPC Hosting segment generated $262.6 million of revenue, comprising $65.8 million of base rent, $183.5 million of tenant fit-out and $13.3 million of tenant recoveries. Tenant fit-out is revenue for construction work performed for customers, so a large share of the quarter's growth reflects build activity rather than recurring rent. Segment operating profit was $33.4 million. The older Data Center Hosting segment was flat at $37.8 million of revenue, with the Jamestown and Ellendale sites at full capacity.

Management also excludes ChronoScale, a business in which it holds about 96%, from non-GAAP figures. ChronoScale contributed $41.5 million of revenue in the quarter.

Balance sheet and contracted pipeline

Applied Digital reported cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash of $3.7 billion, with debt of $6.4 billion. It closed $1.59 billion of 7.000% senior secured notes due 2031. Leases cover about 1.41 gigawatts of critical IT load across five campuses, with base-term contracted revenue of about $36 billion, or about $86 billion if all renewal options are exercised. Those are contract values rather than reported revenue, and delivery depends on construction and customer performance.

Polaris Forge 1 in North Dakota had 175 megawatts live at quarter end and reached 250 megawatts on 1 October. The company expects initial operations at Polaris Forge 2 to bring live critical IT load in North Dakota to 300 megawatts by the end of calendar 2026. On 6 October it announced access to up to 1 gigawatt of potential power capacity in Finland, its first development outside the United States, with initial power expected from 2028. Chief executive Wes Cummins called it a deliberate first step, not a change in strategy.

Share price and benchmark

Applied Digital closed at $20.39 on Thursday 15 October 2026, up $0.07, or 0.32%, according to StockAnalysis. The prior close, on 14 October, was $20.33, and the close on 13 October was $22.44. Reuters ran a headline on 15 October that AI infrastructure firms had slumped as United States rate-rise bets rose; The reviewed material did not open the article, so this is context rather than an attributed cause. StockAnalysis also listed target-price changes in early October, including Needham lowering its target to $70 from $83 and Morgan Stanley raising its to $41 from $37.50.

The reviewed material did not find Applied Digital in the S&P 500, S&P MidCap 400, S&P SmallCap 600 or Nasdaq-100 lists reviewed, so no index membership is claimed. The Nasdaq Composite is used here only as a benchmark.

The Next Milestones

The sources identify the delivery of Polaris Forge 2 and the 300-megawatt North Dakota target by the end of 2026, further progress on the Finland project, and conversion of fit-out revenue into recurring rent. The next earnings date was not shown by the data provider reviewed, so investors should await a company announcement. Financing plans would also merit attention.

FAQs

Q: What is the stock ticker for Applied Digital?

A: Applied Digital trades under APLD on the Nasdaq market, as identified in the supplied material.

Q: What is the main development covered?

A: The article examines the reported results, recent developments and financial outlook available as of 16 October 2026.

Q: Are the company’s projections guaranteed?

A: No. Management targets and guidance are forward-looking expectations, not reported results.

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