So you want to build a massive AI data center campus? First, you need a lot of money. Then you need a lot of power. Applied Digital Corp. (APLD) is tackling both problems at once, and investors seem to like the plan.
The company's stock rose on Wednesday after it announced the pricing of a whopping $2.15 billion debt offering. The money isn't for the parent company directly, but for a subsidiary called APLD ComputeCo 2 LLC. That entity is selling 6.750% senior secured notes due in 2031. They're being sold at 98% of their face value, which is a pretty standard discount. The goal is to close this deal by March 10, 2026, and the notes are backed by first-priority liens on most of the subsidiary's assets.
What's all that cash for? It's earmarked for the development and construction of something called Polaris Forge 2. This is a new campus in Harwood, North Dakota, that will add 200 megawatts of "critical IT capacity." In simpler terms, it's a huge new data center built specifically for the artificial intelligence boom.
But a data center is just a very expensive, very hot computer if you can't plug it in. That's where the second part of the story comes in. In a related move, Babcock & Wilcox Enterprises Inc. (BW) announced it has received full notice to proceed on a $2.4 billion power generation project. The client is Base Electron, an independent power producer that's backed by Applied Digital.
This project is colossal. It aims to deliver 1.2 gigawatts of new generation capacity. That power is intended to flow directly to Applied Digital's so-called "AI Factory" campuses. Think of it this way: Applied Digital is building the factory, and it's also making sure the utility is building a dedicated power plant next door to keep the lights on. It's a massive, coordinated bet on AI infrastructure demand.
What's the Stock Doing?
On the news, Applied Digital shares were up about 8.80%, trading around $28.45. But let's look under the hood at the stock's recent performance.
Technically, the picture is mixed. The stock is currently trading below its key moving averages—12.5% below its 20-day and 15.3% below its 100-day simple moving average. That often indicates some short-term weakness. The Relative Strength Index (RSI) is sitting right at 50.00, which is the definition of neutral territory. It suggests the stock isn't overbought or oversold at the moment.
However, the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) indicator is telling a slightly different story. It's at 0.10, which is below its signal line of 0.15. That's generally read as a sign of continued bearish pressure. So you have a neutral RSI and a bearish MACD—a classic case of mixed momentum. For traders watching the charts, key resistance sits at $30.00, while $25.00 is seen as a major support level.
Over the past year, it's been a wild ride. The shares have surged and are now trading much closer to their 52-week high than their low.
