APLD vs CORZ Stock Comparison: AI Score, Valuation, Performance and Upside
Both Applied Digital and Core Scientific are converting bitcoin-mining-era data center capacity into AI and high-performance-computing hosting infrastructure, so the comparison largely centers on which company has more immediately leasable capacity, cleaner balance sheet positioning, and stronger long-term hosting contract terms. Core Scientific's larger near-term leasable capacity and post-restructuring balance sheet are often weighed against Applied Digital's development pipeline and growth trajectory.
Use this APLD vs CORZ comparison to evaluate execution speed and balance-sheet quality in the crypto-to-AI infrastructure conversion trade: both companies are racing to sign long-term AI/HPC hosting contracts on formerly bitcoin-mining-oriented capacity, and relative capital discipline is a key differentiator.
CORZ holds the edge across 3 of 5 key metrics in this comparison. CORZ leads on both 1-year return (-27.51%) and forward P/E quality (114.11x vs -105.68x for APLD), a relatively favorable combination of momentum and valuation. On fundamentals, APLD is growing revenue faster (406.60%), while CORZ maintains the higher operating margin (6.87%) — a classic growth-versus-profitability split. Analyst consensus implies meaningfully more upside for APLD (+180.95%) than for CORZ (+132.39%).
Human Wall Street analysts' price targets, typically implying a ~12-month view — a separate signal from this site's own AI Prediction Signal further down the page, which is a 5-/30-day machine-learning forecast based on price history alone.
- Believe Applied Digital's development pipeline offers longer-term capacity growth
- Want exposure to the AI data center leasing theme with a smaller, higher-beta name
- Are comfortable funding growth ahead of fully signed revenue contracts
- Can tolerate execution risk in converting hosting capacity to AI/HPC-grade infrastructure
- Value larger, more immediately leasable power capacity relative to peers
- See benefit in a post-bankruptcy, reset balance sheet
- Want exposure to already-signed long-term AI/HPC hosting contracts
- Are comfortable with lingering legacy bitcoin mining exposure in the business mix
| Metric | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|
| AI scorei | 47.8 | 43.0 |
| AI ranki | #507 | #1323 |
| Latest closei | $20.39 | $14.45 |
| 1M returni | -12.94% | -9.88% |
| 3M returni | -22.88% | -31.23% |
| 6M returni | -32.24% | -25.64% |
| 1Y returni | -46.00% | -27.51% |
How much would $10,000 be worth today if invested at the start of each period, with all dividends reinvested?
| Period | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|
| 1Y ago | $5.4K (-46.0%) started 2025-10-15 | $7.25K (-27.5%) started 2025-10-15 |
| 5Y ago | $42.04K (+320.4%) started 2022-04-13 | $42.02K (+320.2%) started 2024-01-24 |
| 10Y ago | $42.04K (+320.4%) started 2022-04-13 | $42.02K (+320.2%) started 2024-01-24 |
Hypothetical — past performance does not guarantee future results.
| Metric | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|
| Market capi | $7.51B | $5.13B |
| Trailing P/Ei | N/A | N/A |
| Forward P/Ei | -105.68 | 114.11 |
| Price/Salesi | N/A | N/A |
| EV/Revenuei | 21.65 | 17.72 |
| Analyst targeti | $74.23 | $37.13 |
| Target upsidei | +180.95% | +132.39% |
| Metric | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue growthi | 406.60% | 108.80% |
| Earnings growthi | N/A | N/A |
| EPS growthi | N/A | N/A |
| FCF margini | -811.61% | +105.57% |
| Operating margini | -48.22% | 6.87% |
| Profit margini | -39.91% | 0.00% |
| ROIC proxyi | -8.38% | N/A |
| Return on equityi | -8.38% | N/A |
| Dividend yieldi | N/A | N/A |
| Payout ratioi | N/A | 0.00% |
| Dividend growth streaki | N/A | N/A |
| Betai | 5.73 | 5.59 |
| Debt/equityi | 136.23 | N/A |
| Current ratioi | 4.01 | 0.89 |
| Quick ratioi | 1.42 | 0.65 |
Over the past year, APLD and CORZ have moved strongly in the same direction (correlation of 0.75), based on daily returns.
Lower drawdown and smaller single-period drops generally indicate a smoother ride, though they do not guarantee lower future risk.
| Period | Metric | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1Y | Growthi | -46.00% | -27.51% |
| CAGRi | -46.02% | -27.52% | |
| Volatilityi | 101.51% | 72.42% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | -0.16 | -0.15 | |
| Sortino ratioi | -0.24 | -0.21 | |
| Max drawdowni | 59.06% | 53.67% | |
| Current drawdowni | 58.93% | 50.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 27.83% | 23.26% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 31.97% | 26.82% | |
| Max daily dropi | 17.52% | 12.65% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 29.01% | 26.37% | |
| 5Y | Growthi | +320.41% | +320.20% |
| CAGRi | +37.53% | +69.38% | |
| Volatilityi | 135.07% | 84.72% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.83 | 0.99 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.44 | 1.53 | |
| Max drawdowni | 81.89% | 64.95% | |
| Current drawdowni | 58.93% | 50.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 37.17% | 21.30% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 42.50% | 26.59% | |
| Max daily dropi | 52.55% | 29.41% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 74.62% | 30.50% | |
| 10Y | Growthi | +320.41% | +320.20% |
| CAGRi | +37.53% | +69.38% | |
| Volatilityi | 135.07% | 84.72% | |
| Sharpe ratioi | 0.83 | 0.99 | |
| Sortino ratioi | 1.44 | 1.53 | |
| Max drawdowni | 81.89% | 64.95% | |
| Current drawdowni | 58.93% | 50.43% | |
| Avg drawdowni | 37.17% | 21.30% | |
| Ulcer Indexi | 42.50% | 26.59% | |
| Max daily dropi | 52.55% | 29.41% | |
| Max wkly dropi | 74.62% | 30.50% |
| Category | APLD | CORZ |
|---|---|---|
| Company | Applied Digital Corporation | Core Scientific, Inc. |
| Sector | Technology | Technology |
| Industry | Information Technology Services | Software - Infrastructure |
| Core business | Applied Digital builds and operates data center campuses originally focused on bitcoin mining hosting that it has been repositioning toward high-performance computing and AI cloud infrastructure leasing. | Core Scientific operates large-scale data center capacity, originally built for bitcoin mining, that it has been converting toward high-performance computing and AI hosting through long-term colocation contracts. |
| Investor focus | Investors watch Applied Digital's transition from crypto-hosting toward long-term AI/HPC leasing contracts, capital needs to fund new campus buildouts, and lease signing pace with hyperscale or AI cloud tenants. | Investors focus on Core Scientific's immediately leasable power capacity, the pace and terms of its AI/HPC hosting contracts, and its balance sheet following emergence from bankruptcy restructuring. |
- Repositioning toward long-term AI/HPC leasing contracts with potentially more stable revenue
- Development pipeline of large-scale data center campuses in power-advantaged regions
- Rising investor interest in digital infrastructure names amid the broader AI buildout
- Larger, more immediately leasable power capacity than some peers according to industry comparisons
- Established long-term AI/HPC hosting contracts providing revenue visibility
- Emerged from Chapter 11 restructuring with a reset balance sheet
- Substantial capital requirements to build out campuses ahead of signed revenue
- Execution risk in converting crypto-hosting capacity to AI/HPC-grade infrastructure
- Competitive pressure from larger, better-capitalized data center operators for the same tenants
- Legacy ties to bitcoin mining economics still influence part of the business
- Contract concentration risk if a small number of large hosting customers dominate revenue
- Competitive capital-intensive buildout race against other converting crypto-to-AI infrastructure players
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