Applied Digital’s stock soared as much as 30% on Friday after the company reported impressive first-quarter results, fueled by growing demand for artificial intelligence (AI) data centers. This strong performance pushed the stock’s total gain for the year to over 350%, underscoring investor enthusiasm for the company’s rapid expansion in the AI infrastructure sector.

By the end of Friday’s trading session, Applied Digital shares closed up 16%, extending an extraordinary rally that has lifted the stock 344% so far this year.

According to LSEG estimates, the company’s latest quarterly performance exceeded expectations:

  • Loss per share: 7 cents, compared with the anticipated 13-cent loss
  • Revenue: $64.2 million, surpassing the projected $50 million

Applied Digital’s first-quarter revenue rose 84% year over year, up from $34.85 million in the same period last year. The results, announced after Thursday’s market close, highlighted the company’s expanding footprint in the AI-driven data center market.

During the quarter, Applied Digital expanded on its previously announced $7 billion lease agreement with CoreWeave, adding another 150 megawatts of capacity at its Polaris Forge 1 campus in North Dakota. This new capacity brings the total anticipated contracted lease revenue for the project to $11 billion.

“With hyperscalers expected to invest approximately $350 billion into AI deployment this year, we believe we’re well-positioned to serve as the modern-day picks and shovels of the intelligence era,” CEO Wes Cummins said in a statement.

The newly added 150 MW building will complement two other data center blocks at the site, which host 100 MW and 150 MW of capacity respectively. The company noted that one of these buildings is nearly complete, while construction for the next one is set to begin soon.

Applied Digital also announced that it has secured financing from Macquarie Equipment Capital for a second North Dakota campus, known as Polaris Forge 2. This new site, valued at approximately $3 billion, will include two 150 MW facilities, expanding the company’s total leased capacity across both campuses to 600 MW.

According to the company, the first 200 MW of power at the new campus is expected to come online in 2026, with full operational capacity anticipated by 2027.

Despite the revenue surge, Applied Digital reported a net loss of $18.5 million, or 7 cents per share, for the first quarter—wider than the $4.29 million loss, or 3 cents per share, recorded a year ago.

Looking ahead, analysts surveyed by LSEG project a second-quarter loss of 15 cents per share on expected revenue of $76 million.

Applied Digital’s remarkable growth trajectory demonstrates the accelerating global demand for AI infrastructure. As major tech players race to expand their computational capabilities, companies like Applied Digital appear poised to capitalize on the surge in data processing needs that define this new era of artificial intelligence.