Applied Digital Corporation vs Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. — how do they compare? Applied Digital Corporation trades at $30.86 (market cap $8.55B), while Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. trades at $47.76 (market cap $98.11B). The key difference: Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. is far larger — about 11.5× Applied Digital Corporation's market cap, and Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. pays a 3.73% dividend while Applied Digital Corporation pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| APLD | CNQ | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $8.55B | $98.11B |
Sector | Technology | Energy |
52-Week High | $49.65 | $50.55 |
52-Week Low | $13.89 | $29.31 |
Enterprise Value | $12.06B | $108.54B |
Dividend Yield | — | 3.73% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Applied Digital (APLD) trades at $31.50, up 8.4% today, showing strong momentum despite recent volatility. The stock maintains a neutral technical signal with mixed indicators, while fundamentals reveal aggressive growth with $144M revenue in 2025 projected to surge to $611M in 2026. The company secured $36B in contracted AI infrastructure revenue, driving investor optimism, though it operates at a net loss with negative margins. Analyst consensus is unanimously bullish with a $72.36 price target, representing 130% upside potential from current levels.
APLD presents high-growth potential as an AI infrastructure play with massive contracted backlog, but carries significant execution risk amid substantial losses and heavy capital expenditure needs. The stock's valuation appears stretched at 13.37x sales despite negative profitability, while insider selling and institutional position reductions signal caution. Investors face binary outcomes between transformative AI infrastructure success and financial strain from the company's aggressive expansion pace.
CNQ trades at $47.25, up 3.82% in 24 hours, with a bullish technical signal and strong earnings beats in recent quarters. The company reported Q2 2026 EPS of $1.53, exceeding expectations, and maintains robust profitability with a net income margin of 22.87%. Recent news highlights record production and a quarterly dividend of $0.63, reinforcing financial strength.
Outlook is positive due to low valuation multiples, consistent dividend payouts, and upward earnings revisions. Key risks include oil price volatility and rising debt levels. Analyst consensus is strongly bullish with 75% buy ratings, supporting potential upside if operational momentum continues.
Trailing returns across standard periods
Latest headlines on both assets
Applied Digital provides high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure and cloud services. It designs and operates data centers tailored for AI, machine learning, and other intensive digital workloads across North America.
Read more on APLD →Canadian Natural Resources is one of the largest oil and natural gas producers in western Canada, supplemented by operations in the North Sea and Offshore Africa. The company's portfolio includes light and medium oil, heavy oil, bitumen, synthetic oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. Production averaged 1.16 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2020, and the company estimates that it holds over 11.5 billion boe of proven and probable crude oil and natural gas reserves.
Read more on CNQ →