October 22， 2025
In a move that significantly expands its footprint in the AI infrastructure sector, Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) has announced a monumental 15-year lease agreement valued at approximately $5 billion. The deal, with an unnamed U.S.-based investment-grade hyperscaler, covers 200 megawatts (MW) of critical IT capacity at the company's forthcoming Polaris Forge 2 Campus near Harwood, North Dakota.
The agreement solidifies a long-term partnership and includes a first right of refusal for the hyperscaler on an additional 800 MW. This clause effectively covers the entire expansion potential of the 1-gigawatt campus, signaling immense future growth potential. This landmark contract arrives as Applied Digital demonstrates robust financial performance, with InvestingPro data indicating a 28.43% revenue growth over the last twelve months. The company's current market valuation stands at approximately $9.1 billion.
Construction on the Polaris Forge 2 Campus is currently in progress. The initial 200 MW of capacity is scheduled to begin coming online in 2026, with full operational capacity expected by 2027. The facility is being engineered for high efficiency, targeting a projected Power Usage Effectiveness (PUE) of 1.18 and featuring a design with near-zero water consumption, a critical factor for sustainable data center operations.
This new lease brings Applied Digital's total leased capacity across its North Dakota facilities to 600 MW, spread across two global hyperscaler clients. The Polaris Forge 2 site itself spans more than 900 acres and is specifically designed to support the intensive demands of artificial intelligence and high-performance computing workloads.
"What sets us apart isn’t just the size of our pipeline - it’s how fast we can deliver," said Wes Cummins, Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital, in a statement accompanying the announcement.
The company has been active in securing major partnerships, with this latest deal following a 150 MW lease with cloud provider CoreWeave at its Polaris Forge 1 Campus and a separate $5.0 billion AI infrastructure partnership with Macquarie Asset Management.
Applied Digital's rapid expansion was recently recognized with the top spot on the Dallas Business Journal’s Fast 50 list. This growth is also reflected in its stock performance, which has delivered a remarkable 348% return year-to-date, trading at $32.54 at the time of the announcement.
In other recent developments, Applied Digital reported strong fiscal first-quarter 2026 earnings that surpassed analyst expectations. The company posted revenue of $64.2 million, significantly above the projected $50.97 million, and an adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of -$0.03, outperforming the anticipated -$0.14. This performance prompted several analyst firms, including H.C. Wainwright, Needham, and Citizens JMP, to raise their price targets for the company, with some doubling their targets to the $40-$41 range.
SOURCE za.investing
