Jan 7 (Reuters) – Applied Digital reported second-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates on Wednesday, as the data center operator benefited from strong demand for its large-scale facilities for artificial intelligence workloads.
Shares of the company rose about 7% in extended trading.
Applied Digital is capitalizing on surging demand for AI infrastructure that is able to provide the massive compute capacity developers need to train and deploy artificial intelligence models.
It reported revenue of $126.6 million for the fiscal second quarter, ended November 30, far exceeding analysts’ estimates of $88 million, according to data compiled by LSEG.
The company has secured billions in long-term leases, including a recent $5 billion agreement with a U.S.-based hyperscaler for 200 MW at its Polaris Forge 2 campus in North Dakota.
Applied said it has now signed leases with two hyperscalers across two campuses in North Dakota.
“The Dakotas represent a compelling region for hyperscalers due to their cool climate and abundant energy. We believe our first-mover advantage, combined with our proven ability to execute technically complex data center construction, positions Applied Digital with a strong competitive advantage,” CEO Wes Cummins said.
Last month, Applied Digital said it was spinning off its cloud business to merge with Ekso Bionics, forming an AI-focused company called ChronoScale, with Applied Digital retaining 97% ownership as it looks to transition into a data center real estate investment trust.
(Reporting by Harshita Mary Varghese and Anhata Rooprai in Bengaluru; Editing by Alan Barona)
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