TLDR
- Applied Digital signed a 15-year lease worth approximately $5 billion with a U.S. investment grade hyperscaler for 200 MW at its Polaris Forge 2 campus in North Dakota
- The deal brings Applied Digital’s total leased capacity across its North Dakota campuses to 600 MW with two major global hyperscalers
- The hyperscaler secured first right of refusal for an additional 800 MW, representing the full 1-gigawatt expansion potential of Polaris Forge 2
- The initial 200 MW will be phased within two buildings expected to begin operations in 2026 and reach full capacity in 2027
- Applied Digital stock rose 7% on Wednesday following the announcement
Applied Digital shares jumped 7% on Wednesday after announcing a massive lease agreement. The company secured a deal with a U.S.-based investment grade hyperscaler at its Polaris Forge 2 campus in North Dakota.
Applied Digital Corporation, APLD
The lease runs for approximately 15 years and represents about $5 billion in total contracted revenue. It covers 200 megawatts of critical IT load designed for artificial intelligence and high-performance computing infrastructure.
This deal pushes Applied Digital’s total leased capacity at its North Dakota facilities to 600 MW. The capacity involves two major global hyperscalers across its Polaris Forge 1 and Polaris Forge 2 campuses.
The hyperscaler also locked in a first right of refusal. This option covers an additional 800 MW of critical IT capacity, representing the complete expansion potential of the 1-gigawatt Polaris Forge 2 campus.
The initial 200 MW will roll out in phases. Two buildings will start coming online in 2026.
The facilities are expected to reach full capacity by 2027. The Polaris Forge 2 campus sits on more than 900 acres.
Campus Specifications and Efficiency
The campus is engineered with high efficiency standards in mind. Applied Digital projects a power usage effectiveness (PUE) of 1.18 for the facility.
The design also features near-zero water consumption. These specifications align with growing industry focus on sustainable data center operations.
Chairman and CEO Wes Cummins commented on the company’s competitive advantage. “What sets us apart isn’t just the size of our pipeline – it’s how fast we can deliver,” he said.
Cummins emphasized execution speed as the real constraint in the industry. He noted that Applied Digital’s team continues proving that large-scale, next-generation data centers can be designed, financed, and brought online faster than expected.
Recent Expansion Activity
This announcement follows other recent deals for Applied Digital. Earlier this year, the company finalized a 150 MW lease agreement with CoreWeave at its Polaris Forge 1 campus.
The company also entered a $5.0 billion AI infrastructure partnership with Macquarie Asset Management. These deals reflect Applied Digital’s aggressive expansion strategy in the AI infrastructure space.
Applied Digital’s stock has surged over 325% so far this year. Investors are betting heavily on the company’s data center expansion plans.
The premarket trading on Wednesday showed shares initially up 4%. That gain extended to 7% during regular trading hours.
Developers are racing to secure infrastructure to meet growing AI compute demand. Applied Digital is positioning itself to supply this capacity through its expanding campus network.
The company’s North Dakota facilities serve as a key hub for this strategy. The state offers advantages for large-scale data center operations.
The latest lease agreement with the unnamed U.S. hyperscaler represents one of the largest deals in Applied Digital’s expansion push. The 15-year commitment provides long-term revenue visibility for the company.
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