Applied Digital Signs $7 Billion Lease Deal with CoreWeave

ELLENDALE, North Dakota — Tech company Applied Digital has entered into two major lease agreements with CoreWeave, a cloud services provider backed by Nvidia. These 15-year leases are projected to generate around $7 billion in revenue for Applied Digital throughout their duration.

The announcement led to a significant boost in Applied Digital’s stock, which surged by 42% at the time of reporting. CoreWeave’s stock also experienced a rise of nearly 5% following the news.

The leases mark an important transition for Applied Digital as it aims to become a real estate investment trust focusing on data centers. Under the terms of the agreement, Applied Digital will provide 250 megawatts (MW) of IT power to support CoreWeave’s high-performance computing systems at its data center in Ellendale.

Additionally, CoreWeave has the option to expand its power usage by an additional 150 MW. The first 100 MW facility is set to be operational by late 2025, while a second building with another 150 MW is expected to be completed by mid-2026. A potential third building could be introduced in 2027, enabling the Ellendale campus to eventually accommodate up to 1 gigawatt of power.

Wes Cummins, CEO of Applied Digital, emphasized that these long-term leases demonstrate the company’s role as a key infrastructure provider in the emerging field of computing technology, especially as the demand for artificial intelligence (AI) services grows. He reiterated that CoreWeave serves as the ideal partner in this initiative.

CoreWeave is part of a new wave of “neocloud” companies that rent Nvidia chips to software developers, relying on firms like Applied Digital to reduce the costs associated with AI-centric cloud services.

On Wall Street, analysts have varying expectations for these two companies. Currently, APLD’s price target stands at $10.50 per share, suggesting almost a 6% upside, while CRWV shows a risk of 59% downside.