Applied Digital slides on 800 MW funding gap

Applied Digital shares came under renewed pressure on November 2, 2026 after CEO Wes Cummins said the company still needs to secure financing for about 800 megawatts of data center capacity over the next 12 months. The stock traded at $16.33 in afternoon dealings, down 8%, and earlier in the session dropped to an over‑one‑year low. APLD is down around 30% so far this year and more than 50% over the past 12 months, reflecting mounting investor concern over how its expansion will be funded.

Cummins said Applied Digital has financed roughly 600 MW of a 1.4 gigawatt expansion plan, leaving more than half of the targeted capacity without funding. Worries about funding pressures at upstart cloud and AI infrastructure providers have returned.

The CEO said bank construction loans, project financing and the bond market remain open to Applied Digital, but acknowledged that higher Treasury yields and wider credit spreads have pushed up borrowing costs. He stated that there are “a lot of funding mechanisms out there” and that the bond market is “still available” at an appropriate price. Cummins added that the capacity still awaiting financing is backed by tenants rated AA or better, which he views as supportive for lenders’ appetite.

Across three newer campuses – Polaris Forge 3 in North Dakota and Delta Forge 1 and 2 – Applied Digital has about $20 billion in contracted revenue. The leases on these and other sites typically run 15 years or more and are structured as take‑or‑pay agreements, meaning tenants pay whether or not they use the space. Cummins highlighted that projects have so far been delivered on schedule and within budget, but described timely delivery as “the big risk” for the build‑out.

Despite the funding gap, Cummins reported that Applied Digital turned on 250 MW of capacity over the past 12 months and expects to bring at least another 600 MW online over the next year. He said demand from current and prospective customers remains “extremely robust” and that pricing power has also been “robust.” On that basis, he reiterated a target of reaching 3.5 gigawatts to 4 gigawatts of capacity by 2030, contingent on demand holding up.

The financing concerns weighed on other AI infrastructure names. Nebius (NBIS) Group stock traded at $144.71, down 6%, while CoreWeave (CRWV) shares fell 6% to $51.59 and IREN also declined 6%. CoreWeave accounts for an estimated 30% of Applied Digital’s contracted revenue, and one of Applied Digital’s campuses is leased to CoreWeave, whose customer at the site is Meta. The parallel declines underscored investor sensitivity to how capital‑intensive AI data center expansions will be funded across the sector.

Cummins said Applied Digital is concentrating on four or five large cloud companies with investment‑grade credit as core tenants, positioning the portfolio around what he characterized as high‑quality counterparties. He portrayed current worries about AI infrastructure as the third “wave” of jitters but maintained that the company’s organic growth pipeline is substantial. Troubled or stalled data center projects have started to come the company’s way, potentially creating consolidation opportunities, though he said acquisitions are not being pursued aggressively given the existing development slate.