APLD Stock Surges Nearly 9% After-Hours - Here's Why

• Applied Digital signed a 210 megawatt (MW), 15-year take-or-pay lease with a U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler at its Delta Forge 2 AI campus.
• The deal adds about $5.2 billion in base-term revenue and lifts total contracted portfolio to around $36 billion across five campuses.
• About 70% of contracted revenue is now backed by investment-grade hyperscalers, reinforcing long-term demand visibility.

Shares of Applied Digital Corporation (APLD) jumped nearly 9% in after-hours trading on Monday, as the company announced a new long-term lease agreement at Delta Forge 2, a purpose-built AI Factory campus in a new southern state. 

The deal is with a U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler and marks Applied Digital's fifth AI Factory campus overall.

Earlier in the regular session, APLD shares closed up 3.34%, before extending gains post-market. 

APLD Expands AI Campus Model

The agreement spans 210 MW of critical IT load under a 15-year take-or-pay structure with renewal options, translating to around $5.2 billion in base-term contracted revenue. If all renewal options are exercised over a 30-year period, the total value rises to about $12.7 billion.

APLD CEO Wes Cummins said the deal reinforces Applied Digital's approach of scaling a standardized operating model across multiple sites rather than building isolated data centers.

“Two years ago, we made a deliberate decision to build a company that scales, not just builds data centers,” Cummins said.“We call it our franchise model - a core team of design, construction, and operations professionals replicated across every campus, in every market.”

APLD's Portfolio Scales To $36 Billion

With the latest agreement, Applied Digital's contracted portfolio now spans five AI Factory campuses, covering 1.4 GW of critical IT load and about 2.15 GW of grid-connected utility power. Total contracted base-term lease revenue stands at around $36 billion, rising to about $86 billion if all renewal options are exercised.

The company said about 70% of contracted revenue is now backed by U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscalers.

Community Strategy And Project Timeline

Applied Digital said its site selection strategy focuses on regions where large-scale infrastructure investment can drive long-term economic impact, including job creation and expanded tax bases.

The Delta Forge 2 campus is expected to support local employment and construction activity and will feature the company's proprietary waterless cooling and high-density infrastructure designed for AI workloads. Initial operations are expected to begin in Q1 2028.

APLD Stock: What Retail Says

Stocktwits retail sentiment on APLD had improved to 'bullish' on Monday from 'bearish' a day ago. APLD's message volume rose 29% over the past seven days and surged 166% in the last 30 days.

One bullish retail trader on Stocktwits said they are trying to keep track of APLD's customer mix, asking,“So where are we at now?,” as they questioned whether it is CoreWeave at two campuses and a mystery investment-grade hyperscaler at the others, or a different split across multiple sites.

Two bullish retail traders on Stocktwits set aggressive upside targets for the stock.

One of them said it“should be at 60!”

Another predicted“$70 by Thursday,” even as shares were trading around $45 at the time of writing.

APLD stock is up over 180% in the past 12 months. 

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