Ticker Reports for August 5th
Applied Digital: Why a Surge in Bullish Bets Signals a New Era
Most investors will tell you that it pays to listen when the market sends a clear signal. On August 1, 2025, the market for Applied Digital Corporation (NASDAQ: APLD) was practically shouting. On that day, the volume of call options traded for the company surged 220.9% over its daily average, a spike in activity that caught the attention of Wall Street.
This market action points directly to a powerful story unfolding within the company: Applied Digital's fundamental transformation into an essential infrastructure provider for the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. For a growing number of investors, this is a clear sign that the company is standing at a much-anticipated turning point, and they are beginning to position themselves accordingly.
From Crypto Host to AI Infrastructure Powerhouse: The $11 Billion Pivot
The confidence displayed by options traders is rooted in Applied Digital’s successful strategic pivot away from its history of hosting for the volatile cryptocurrency mining industry. The company is aggressively remaking itself into what can best be described as an AI Landlord.
Instead of speculating on technology, Applied Digital is building and leasing out the essential, high-value digital real estate required by the titans of the AI revolution. This picks and shovels business model is incredibly attractive because it offers a durable way to invest in the entire AI boom, backed by physical assets and predictable, long-term rental income, much like a commercial real estate owner with a blue-chip anchor tenant.
This strategy is cemented by a landmark agreement with CoreWeave (NASDAQ: CRWV), a prominent private AI Hyperscaler backed by industry leader NVIDIA (NASDAQ: NVDA). This single partnership validates Applied Digital’s new identity and provides the hard evidence for the bullish investment case. The scale of the deal, which was recently expanded, is immense:
- Total Capacity: A massive 400 megawatts (MW) at Applied Digital’s Polaris Forge campus in North Dakota.
- Contract Value: Approximately $11 billion in projected total revenue.
- Contract Duration: Secure, long-term lease agreements of approximately 15 years.
This agreement provides an unprecedented level of revenue visibility for a company of Applied Digital’s size, transforming its financial future. For investors, this contract is the cornerstone of the bullish thesis and the primary reason traders are re-evaluating what the company is truly worth.
How Applied Digital Is Securing Its Future
An $11 billion contract is only valuable if a company can deliver on it. The central question for investors has now shifted from strategy to execution, and Applied Digital's management is taking clear and decisive steps to de-risk its ambitious construction plan. These actions directly address investor concerns and are aimed at ensuring the contracted revenue becomes a reality.
First, the company has fortified its financial position. Building data centers is a capital-intensive business, and Applied Digital has proactively strengthened its balance sheet. Following its fiscal year-end earnings report, the company raised approximately $270 million in new capital, providing a significant cash buffer for construction. Management also stated on its July 30 earnings call that it expects to finalize the broader project financing for the campus within weeks, which would secure the long-term funding required for the entire build-out.
Second, the company is accelerating its operational timeline. By streamlining its design and supply chain, management has successfully reduced projected datacenter build times from 24 months down to an impressive 12 to 14 months. This efficiency not only speeds up the timeline to revenue generation but also demonstrates a high level of operational expertise that can be a key competitive advantage.
This visible progress is why the market is beginning to re-evaluate the stock’s potential. When comparing Applied Digital’s full-year 2025 revenue of $144.2 million to its now massive $11 billion revenue backlog, the step-change in the company’s financial scale becomes clear. This forward-looking sentiment is being echoed by Applied Digital’s analyst community, with several analyst firms, including Lake Street Capital and Needham & Company, significantly raising their price targets on the stock, with some targets now reaching as high as $18.00.
Flipping the Switch on a New Future
The explosive surge in call options is a powerful market signal that a growing number of investors are looking past Applied Digital's history and are squarely focused on its future as a key enabler of the AI industry.
With its foundational $11 billion contract secured and clear, tangible steps being taken to de-risk the execution phase, the company is poised to become an essential landlord to some of the most important companies in technology.
The bet being made by a growing number of traders is clear: Applied Digital is poised to flip the switch, not just on its new data centers, but on a new era of predictable growth, profitability, and significant value creation for its shareholders.
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Palantir Stock Soars After Blowout Earnings Report
Palantir Technologies Inc. (NASDAQ: PLTR) is up over 8% the morning after the company delivered a blowout earnings report that had shareholders cheering and, for a moment, quieted its naysayers.
There were many headlines to this report, but the most important was that Palantir hit $1 billion in revenue for a quarter for the first time. That was a 48% increase on a year-over-year (YOY) basis.
The company also beat earnings expectations by three cents.
Some additional highlights in the company’s report included:
- U.S. revenue grew 68% YOY to $733 million.
- U.S. commercial revenue grew 93% YOY to $306 million.
- U.S. government revenue grew 53% YOY to $426 million.
- The company closed 157 deals of at least $1 million and 42 deals of at least $10 million.
- Customer count increased by 43% YOY.
- Adjusted operating income of $464 million, with a margin of 46%.
- $539 million in cash from operations, a margin of 54%.
- A rule of 40 score of 94.
The bullish enthusiasm wasn’t just about the current earnings report. Chief executive officer (CEO) Alex Karp remarked that he’s committed to the company growing its revenue by 10x over the next five years.
Read ‘Em and Weep
That was the message Karp shared with what he called the “Palantir haters” in an interview with CNBC. It’s easy to understand why Karp would celebrate a victory.
The reasonable, but perhaps overstated, criticism of Palantir is that the stock is priced to perfection and then some. However, as the saying goes, it’s not bragging if you can do it. That’s exactly what Palantir continues to do.
The report, by any objective measure, was spectacular.
However, more importantly, the company’s forward guidance signals that it will continue to grow. In fact, referring to the “bombastic demand” for the company’s AI platform, Karp noted that the company is “growing faster than we are even able to grow, like we’re going to have to start turning away people...”
The company isn’t turning away the federal government. In fact, Palantir announced that it has $10 billion in contracts with the government over the next 10 years.
Watch the Floor, Not the Ceiling
It’s common for analysts to reevaluate a company’s rating and price target after an earnings report. One of the most prominent Palantir bulls, Dan Ives of Wedbush, raised his price target on PLTR stock from $175 to $200.
Investors will recall that Ives has referred to Palantir as the “Lionel Messi of AI.”
Ives isn’t alone. Deutsche Bank upgraded Palantir from a Sell to a Hold while doubling its price target from $80 to $160. Cantor Fitzgerald and Piper Sandler also raised their price targets for PLTR stock.
Seeing price targets move higher is encouraging.
This is important for several reasons. First, it demonstrates that institutions are still buying Palantir stock, despite its high valuation. Second, it shows that retail investors continue to hold their shares, even while high.
Is PLTR Stock a Buy?
Technology stocks historically carry a premium valuation. However, Palantir is expensive by any measure, and the debate about Palantir’s valuation isn’t going to go away anytime soon. However, it’s important to note that many investors who passively add money to their 401(k) funds may already have exposure to PLTR stock.
For example, PLTR stock is the 28th largest holding of the Vanguard S&P 500 ETF (NYSEARCA: VOO) as of this writing.
However, this may not provide enough exposure for growth investors, who may require a more active approach. In this case, investors with a long-term focus on the company’s valuation can scale into the stock over time.
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Amazon Enters Correction Zone: Time to Panic or Be Brave?
Tech giant Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN) delivered one of its better headline beats in last week’s earnings report, yet the stock has shed 10% in just two sessions. The swift drop follows a stunning 45% rally from April’s low, a run that left little room for anything short of perfection.
With the broader market refusing to be dragged down by Amazon, a rare and notable divergence, those of us on the sidelines need to ask ourselves some important questions. For example, is this simply a much-needed bout of profit-taking, or could it be the start of a much deeper shake-out? And depending on how you feel about it, is now the time to panic or the time to be brave?
What’s Behind the Drop?
Let’s start with the fundamentals. There’s no escaping from the fact that Amazon’s headline results last week hardly read like a company in trouble. Revenue rose double-digits year-over-year and topped Wall Street’s forecast by a comfortable margin, while earnings per share were 25% higher than expected.
There were also plenty of other bright spots under the hood, such as its much-watched AWS business, which showed encouraging signs of cloud demand continuing to grow.
However, management’s cautious guidance for operating income seems to have spooked investors. The midpoint fell a shade below consensus, and after a nearly vertical four-month ascent, many of Amazon’s bulls seem to have seized the excuse to lock in some of their gains.
Reasons to Feel Brave
This is even though almost all analysts covering Amazon have reiterated bullish outlooks in the aftermath of Thursday’s report. The teams over at Goldman Sachs and Cowen did just that, for example, on Friday, as did BMO Capital Markets, the latter even boosting their price target up to $280.
From the $212 level, Amazon closed just below on Monday, which points to a targeted upside of some 30%; not bad for a $2.2 trillion company.
The analysts are mostly united in their praise for Amazon’s steady retail profit growth, its shift toward higher-margin advertising revenue, and an increasing potential for AI-driven efficiencies. These positive factors are expected to persist for some time, and investors should capitalize on them.
Key Levels and Signals to Watch
Technically, the stock has already met the textbook definition of a correction, sliding 10% from its recent high. The relative strength index now hovers in the mid-30s, just above the extremely oversold threshold, a territory it has not visited since early spring.
Simultaneously, it’s also now trading at a decent support level around the $210 mark, an area where dip-buyers stepped in during June, adding to the sense that this could be a prime entry point. If this level were to hold through this week, we could look at a clean signal that the worst of the shake-out is done.
Reasons to Be Cautious
Yet it has to be said that Amazon’s post-earnings sell-off continued yesterday even as the S&P 500 logged one of its better days in weeks, a rare divergence that hints at real money leaving the table.
That absence of dip-buyers could well mean institutions want to see some consolidation before redeploying capital, and indeed, it’s hard to argue that a cooling-off period isn’t needed, even if it feels painful.
The bears will also point to management’s heavier spending plans on artificial intelligence and infrastructure and ongoing concerns about Amazon’s broader vulnerability.
If the macro backdrop wobbles, for example, or we see increased tariff uncertainty or a consumer soft patch, this profit-taking could quickly become more structural.
Considering Your Next Step
However, keep in mind that Amazon’s report showed some real revenue momentum for last quarter, their margins are in good shape, and their AWS franchise remains pretty dominant among its competitors. The market’s reaction looks more like a healthy reset than a full reversal, for now at least.
Whether you’re stepping aside for a clearer technical signal or are starting to build a position now, the real question is whether Amazon’s long-term growth machine has changed—for most analysts and many seasoned investors, the answer is a confident no.
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