Applied Digital Drops 8.6% as AI Datacenter Bets Face $8.3B Test

Applied Digital has positioned itself as a developer of digital infrastructure for AI workloads, but its share price dropped 8.6% on August 18, a clear signal that infrastructure exposure alone cannot shield investors from execution risk. With an APLD beta of 5.75 and a quarterly loss of $0.39 per share, the AI compute buildout story is being repriced against the reality of steep capital intensity and a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88.

On Tuesday, August 18, 2026, shares of Applied Digital Corporation dropped 8.6% during mid-day trading, last printing at $28.51 after a prior close of $31.18. Trading volume reached 17,548,882 shares, about 27% below the average daily volume of 23,912,201, suggesting the move was not a broad institutional liquidation but rather a selective repricing. The decline coincided with a 5.1% drop in Rigetti Computing to $17.71 on volume of 13,654,289 shares, which was 58% below its average of 32,570,262. Together, the two moves highlight renewed pressure on speculative technology names tied to AI infrastructure and quantum computing even without elevated volume.

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The decline coincided with a 5.1% drop in Rigetti Computing to $17.71 on volume of 13,654,289 shares, which was 58% below its average of 32,570,262.

The analyst backdrop for Applied Digital is unusually conflicted. Lucid Capital Markets upgraded the stock to a strong-buy rating on May 27, Needham & Company reiterated a buy rating with an $83.00 target on July 28, and Morgan Stanley boosted its target from $36.50 to $37.50 with an equal weight rating on August 6. Yet Wall Street Zen downgraded Applied Digital from sell to strong sell on August 8, and Weiss Ratings restated a sell rating on July 21. According to MarketBeat data cited in the report, the company carries a Moderate Buy consensus with an average price target of $68.15, roughly 139% above the last trade of $28.51. Three analysts rate it Strong Buy, eleven rate Buy, two rate Hold, and one rates Sell. The wide dispersion between the most bullish target and the current price reflects genuine uncertainty about execution.

Rigetti Computing faces a similar divergence, though with lower nominal volatility. Northland Securities initiated coverage with a market perform rating and a $20.00 target on April 20. Mizuho cut its target from $33.00 to $27.00 on May 12 but kept an outperform rating, while Needham issued a buy rating with a $31.00 target the same day. Wall Street Zen cut Rigetti from hold to sell on August 8, and Weiss Ratings lowered it from sell (d-) to sell (e+) on August 11. The MarketBeat consensus remains Moderate Buy with an average target of $30.67, about 73% above the $17.71 last trade. Seven analysts rate it Buy, four rate Hold, and one rates Sell.

The financial profiles reinforce why these stocks are prone to outsized moves. Applied Digital has a beta of 5.75, a market capitalization of $8.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -32.03, a debt-to-equity ratio of 2.88, and a quick ratio of 4.01. It reported a quarterly loss of $0.39 per share on July 27, missing the consensus estimate. Rigetti has a beta of 1.99, a market cap of $5.91 billion, a P/E of -19.68, and a negative net margin of 2,189.54%. It posted a loss of $0.05 per share on August 6, meeting consensus. Both companies remain deeply unprofitable, meaning their valuations are tied to future revenue rather than current earnings, which magnifies sensitivity to shifts in rate expectations and AI capital spending sentiment.