Applied Digital (APLD) stock jumped more than 10% on Tuesday after announcing a third major lease agreement with an unnamed U.S.-based hyperscaler, underscoring relentless demand for artificial intelligence infrastructure. The 15-year, take-or-pay deal covers 210 megawatts of critical IT load at the Delta Forge 2 campus, carrying a base-term value of $5.2 billion and up to $12.7 billion if renewal options are exercised over 30 years.
The agreement brings Applied Digital’s total contracted base-term lease revenue to $36 billion, rising to $86 billion with all extensions. Approximately 70% of that revenue is backed by investment-grade hyperscalers. Initial operations at Delta Forge 2 are expected in Q1 2028. The lease comes just 18 days after the Polaris Forge 3 deal, both with the same client who signed Delta Forge 1 earlier. CEO Wes Cummins called it “strong validation” of the company’s vertically integrated AI factory model.
Wall Street analysts responded swiftly: Needham raised its price target to $83 from $66, Compass Point to $70 from $45, and Lake Street to $90. The stock, which has returned 214% over the past year and now trades around $45.69, holds a Strong Buy consensus with 10 Buy ratings. The company also recently closed a $350 million credit facility led by Goldman Sachs and spun off its cloud business as ChronoScale (CHRN). Despite remaining unprofitable, Applied Digital’s contracted net operating income stands at $2.06 billion, and it markets approximately 1.4 GW of future capacity.
