Applied Digital President Buys 300,000 Shares, CEO Raises Stake
Key Facts
Applied Digital President Jason Guicheng Zhang and Wes Cummins, its chief executive officer and chairman, bought shares in the company on October 16, 2026, as its business expanded and quarterly losses increased. The purchase disclosures were included in the company's filings on October 19 as it continued to execute projects and increase operating capacity at its sites. According to Zhang's disclosure, the president bought 300,000 common shares at a weighted average price of $18.86 per share. His purchases comprised transactions executed at prices ranging from $18.40 to $19.16 per share. His reported direct holdings following the purchases totaled 2,839,227 shares, including restricted stock units.
Cummins, who serves as both chief executive officer and chairman, bought 55,803 shares, according to his company disclosure. His purchase was executed at $18.04 per share on the same day as Zhang's purchases. Cummins' reported direct holdings rose to 5,874,453 shares following the transaction. Those holdings also include restricted stock units, alongside the shares included in his reported direct ownership. The executives' purchases followed a fiscal quarter in which revenue rose to $341.9 million, up 322% year on year, according to the earnings release filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
The results cover the first fiscal quarter of fiscal 2027, which ended in August 2026, according to the company's statement. Applied Digital attributed growth in services revenue primarily to increased tenant fit-out work at its facilities. Sales of computing hardware at ChronoScale also contributed to revenue, among the drivers the company cited for the period's results. Meanwhile, the loss from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders widened to $221.0 million during the quarter. The loss in the comparable period of fiscal 2026 was about $18.5 million, according to the same earnings release.
On its balance sheet, Applied Digital held $3.7 billion in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at the end of August 2026. At the same date, the company's debt stood at $6.4 billion, according to figures in its quarterly earnings release. Leases represent about $36 billion in contracted revenue over their base terms, according to the company. These are future contractual revenues tied to the terms of the agreements, rather than revenue recognized during the reported fiscal quarter. Operationally, the company announced on October 2 that it had added 75 megawatts of ready-for-service capacity at Polaris Forge 1.
The addition brought total operating capacity at Polaris Forge 1 to 250 megawatts, according to the site's operational update. Contracted capacity to be delivered upon completion of the site's development is about 400 megawatts, according to the same statement. Alongside its expansion in the United States, Applied Digital signed an agreement to access potential power capacity of up to 1 gigawatt in Finland. The company described the Finnish project as its first development opportunity outside the United States in its October 2026 announcement. Cummins said Finland was selected for its "favorable climate, attractive energy environment and strong connectivity."
In trading on October 19, 2026, Applied Digital shares, which trade under the ticker APLD, rose 6.65% during the session, according to Stock Analysis data. The stock closed at $19.25 on the day the executives' purchase disclosures were included in the company's filings. On its expansion timeline, Applied Digital expects operations at Polaris Forge 2 to begin by the end of 2026. It expects that to bring delivered capacity across its North Dakota sites to 300 megawatts by the same deadline, according to its earnings release. For the Finland project, the company said power availability is expected to begin in 2028.