Applied Digital Corp. (NASDAQ: APLD) secured a $300 million senior secured bridge financing led by Goldman Sachs, providing a critical injection of capital to accelerate the construction of its artificial intelligence data center projects. The funding arrives as the company scales rapidly to meet surging demand for high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure, a market segment essential for developing and deploying AI models.
"Our priority remains execution –– bringing capacity online on schedule and operating it with discipline over the long term," Wes Cummins, Chief Executive Officer of Applied Digital, said recently. "With this agreement, we now have two U.S. based investment-grade hyperscalers across our portfolio, marking an important step in the continued diversification of our customer base and strengthening the overall quality and visibility of our contracted revenue."
The financing builds on a period of explosive growth. For its fiscal third quarter, Applied Digital reported a 139 percent year-over-year increase in revenue to $126.6 million, with its HPC hosting business contributing approximately $71.0 million. While the company posted a net loss of $100.9 million as it invests heavily in expansion, adjusted EBITDA rose to $44.1 million from just $6.3 million a year earlier, showing growing operational leverage.
This new capital is aimed directly at capturing a larger share of the AI infrastructure market. The race to build data center capacity is a key competitive frontier for cloud providers and AI companies, and this financing allows Applied Digital to speed up its construction timelines. The company's stock has soared 704.71 percent in the past year, reflecting investor confidence in its strategy.
A significant factor in Applied Digital's growth trajectory is its success in securing long-term contracts with major clients. On April 23, the company announced a 15-year lease agreement with a U.S.-based, investment-grade hyperscaler for 300 megawatts (MW) of capacity at its Delta Forge 1 AI Factory campus.
The deal is worth approximately $7.5 billion in total contracted value and lifts the company’s total contracted lease revenue to more than $23 billion. According to the company, more than 50 percent of that contracted revenue is now backed by investment-grade customers, providing significant revenue visibility. Operations at the 430 MW Delta Forge 1 campus are expected to commence in the middle of 2027. This follows the company's first 100 MW HPC data center, Polaris Forge 1, becoming fully operational in the previous quarter.
While expanding its AI and HPC footprint, Applied Digital continues to operate its legacy data center hosting business, which serves Bitcoin mining clients. This segment remains a profitable contributor, generating $37.5 million in revenue and $14 million in operating profit during the third quarter. This provides a stable financial base that helps offset the heavy capital expenditures required for the more complex, liquid-cooled AI data centers.
The company's focus on next-generation infrastructure includes operating the only 100MW direct-to-chip liquid-cooled data center, a key differentiator in the high-power AI hardware space. However, the aggressive expansion has led to significant losses on a GAAP basis. The $100.9 million net loss in the last quarter highlights the high cost of scaling. Investors are weighing this against the massive revenue growth and long-term contracts. Following the hyperscaler deal, Roth Capital analyst Darren Aftahi maintained a Buy rating and raised his price target from $58 to $65, viewing the contract as the first of several major commercial developments expected in 2026.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
