Applied Digital (APLD) Surges 8.2% on Record Revenue and AI Infrastructure Expansion – What’s Next?

Summary
• Applied Digital (APLD) rockets 8.2% intraday to $37.915, hitting a 52-week high of $40.08.
• Q1 2026 revenue jumps 84% to $64.2M, driven by CoreWeave lease and AI campus expansion.
• Options chain shows 132%+ implied volatility, with $40 call options seeing 61.78% price change.
•
Applied Digital’s stock is surging on record revenue and strategic AI infrastructure growth. The company’s 84% revenue jump and new 150MW CoreWeave lease signal strong demand for AI data centers. With options volatility spiking and a 52-week high reached, investors are scrambling to assess if this momentum is sustainable.

AI Infrastructure Expansion and CoreWeave Lease Drive APLD’s Record Revenue and Price Surge
Applied Digital’s 8.2% intraday rally stems from Q1 2026 results showing $64.2M revenue (84% YoY growth) and a new 150MW lease with CoreWeave at its Polaris Forge 1 campus. The lease secures $11B in prospective revenue over 15 years, validating APLD’s AI infrastructure model. Management highlighted hyperscaler demand for $350B in AI deployment, positioning APLD as a 'modern-day picks and shovels' provider. The stock’s 52-week high at $40.08 aligns with its Polaris Forge 1 campus nearing full operational capacity.

Data Processing Sector Gains Momentum as Microsoft (MSFT) Leads with 0.09% Intraday Gains
The Data Processing & Outsourced Services sector is seeing mixed momentum, with Microsoft (MSFT) rising 0.09% despite APLD’s 8.2% surge. APLD’s AI infrastructure focus contrasts with MSFT’s broader cloud services, but both benefit from AI-driven demand. APLD’s 84% revenue growth outpaces MSFT’s more moderate gains, reflecting its niche in high-performance data centers for AI workloads.

High-Volatility Options and ETFs Highlight APLD’s Bullish Momentum – Here’s How to Play It
• 200-day average: 11.01 (far below current price)
• RSI: 86.47 (overbought)
• MACD: 4.05 (bullish divergence)
• Bollinger Bands: Price at $37.915 vs. upper band $35.00 (overbought)
•
APLD’s technicals suggest aggressive bullish momentum. Key levels to watch: $38.00 (200-day resistance), $40.00 (52-week high), and $35.00 (lower Bollinger support). The 86.47 RSI and 4.05 MACD indicate overbought conditions but strong upward inertia. With Microsoft (MSFT) rising 0.09%, sector-wide AI demand supports APLD’s trajectory.

Top Options Picks:
• APLD20251024C38 (Call, $38 strike, 10/24 expiry):
- IV: 131.37% (high volatility)
- Leverage: 11.45% (moderate)
- Delta: 0.546 (balanced sensitivity)
- Theta: -0.234 (rapid time decay)
- Gamma: 0.0479 (responsive to price swings)
- Turnover: $634,790 (liquid)
- Payoff at 5% upside: $37.915 → $39.81, payoff = $1.81/share
- This call offers high leverage with moderate delta, ideal for capitalizing on APLD’s 52-week high push.
• APLD20251024P39 (Put, $39 strike, 10/24 expiry):
- IV: 184.33% (extreme volatility)
- Leverage: 7.38% (low)
- Delta: -0.471 (moderate bearishness)
- Theta: -0.138 (moderate time decay)
- Gamma: 0.0343 (less responsive)
- Turnover: $211,306 (liquid)
- Payoff at 5% upside: $37.915 → $39.81, payoff = $0.00 (strike above target)
- While the put’s delta suggests bearish potential, its low leverage and high IV make it a speculative hedge against a pullback.
•
Aggressive bulls should target APLD20251024C38 into a break above $38.00.

Backtest Applied Digital Stock Performance
Unfortunately, the Event Back-test engine ran into an internal error (the underlying script is missing the function convert_statistics), so the automatic event-study module could not complete.Here is what we have accomplished so far:1. Pulled every daily return for APLD (01-Jan-2022 → 15-Oct-2025).2. Isolated every trading day where the stock finished the session ≥ +8 % (about “intraday surges”). ➜ The resulting date list has been stored as apld_surge_dates.json.Next-step options:A. Retry with a different engine • Treat each ≥ +8 % day as a BUY signal and use the Strategy Back-test engine (e.g., hold 5 trading days or until a stop-loss / take-profit is hit). • This bypasses the buggy function and still produces full P&L metrics/graphs.B. Run a lightweight custom event study (outside the bugged engine) • I can calculate average 1-, 3-, 5- and 10-day follow-on returns, win-rate, max drawdown after the surge, etc., and summarise the findings in text form.C. Wait for the Event Back-test engine fix • I’ll re-submit the same job when the backend patch is deployed.Let me know which route you prefer (or specify a different holding-period/risk-control rule), and I’ll proceed right away.

APLD’s AI Infrastructure Momentum Suggests Aggressive Bulls Target $40.00 – Watch CoreWeave Leases and MSFT’s 0.09% Move for Sector Cues
APLD’s 8.2% surge is driven by AI infrastructure demand and CoreWeave’s 150MW lease, but overbought technicals (RSI 86.47) suggest caution. The $40.00 52-week high is a critical level to test, with APLD20251024C38 offering high leverage for a breakout. Microsoft’s 0.09% rise signals sector-wide AI optimism, but APLD’s niche in AI data centers could outperform. Watch for $38.00 support or a breakdown below $35.00 to trigger volatility.