To own Applied Digital, you need to believe its heavy build out of AI and HPC campuses can convert large contracted revenue into future cash generation before the balance sheet gets stretched too far. The Soluna joint venture fits that thesis by adding another 50 MW tied to visible power, but on its own it does not change the near term story.
The major near term catalyst still lies in bringing contracted megawatts into service on time and on budget, particularly the hyperscaler leases that underpin roughly US$36b of contracted revenue. The biggest immediate risk remains execution under a high capex, high debt model, with less than one year of cash runway and volatile crypto related demand still in the mix.
The most relevant context around this Soluna deal is Applied Digital’s pivot toward long dated, power backed AI capacity such as the Polaris Forge 1 campus with CoreWeave, which carries an estimated US$7b of 15 year lease commitments. That type of agreement illustrates what investors are ultimately betting Dorothy 3 can resemble over time, even if the terms differ.
Linking Dorothy 3 to a 150 MW wind resource aligns with management’s broader push into lower cost, renewable power that can support dense AI workloads. For you as a shareholder, the key question is whether projects like this come online smoothly enough to support that contracted backlog while offsetting risks from debt, short seller pressure, and any crypto exposure that remains uneven.
Applied Digital's current loss of US$451.8 million is forecast by analysts to move to earnings of US$41.0 million by 2029. This implies an earnings swing of about US$493 million, on top of an expected 57.6% yearly revenue growth rate that would see revenue reach US$3.4 billion by that same year.
Uncover how Applied Digital's fair value indicates a 227% potential upside to its current price, which could narrow quickly as execution risks clear.
Debt risk looks very different through the most bearish Applied Digital lens. One might focus on the chance that repeated capital raises and interest costs cap any benefit from projects like Dorothy 3. Before this news, the lowest analysts were only penciling in about 34.8% yearly revenue growth to roughly US$2.1b by 2029. That is far more cautious than the consensus and could shift again once this wind powered venture is fully reflected in their models.
Explore 5 other Applied Digital fair value estimates, including one that suggests it could be worth just $25.32!
Disagree with existing narratives? Extraordinary investment returns rarely come from following the herd, so go with your instincts.
If the Applied Digital story has you thinking about position sizing, risk and where to find your next opportunity, it helps to scan a wider field of candidates with clear financial profiles you can compare side by side.
Use the Simply Wall St Screener to look across different angles of quality, value and resilience, then line those results up against what you see in Applied Digital.
Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team@simplywallst.com