Applied Digital Corporation vs Danaos Corporation — how do they compare? Applied Digital Corporation trades at $30.45 (market cap $8.55B), while Danaos Corporation trades at $136.89 (market cap $2.46B). The key difference: Applied Digital Corporation is far larger — about 3.5× Danaos Corporation's market cap, and Danaos Corporation pays a 2.67% dividend while Applied Digital Corporation pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| APLD | DAC | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $8.55B | $2.46B |
Sector | Technology | Technology |
52-Week High | $49.65 | $143.15 |
52-Week Low | $13.89 | $84.05 |
Enterprise Value | $12.06B | $2.44B |
Dividend Yield | — | 2.67% |
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.
Danaos Corporation (DAC) trades at $137.35, down 0.7% on the day, but maintains strong technical and fundamental momentum. The stock shows a bullish technical signal with key support at $133 and resistance at $138. Fundamentally, DAC demonstrates exceptional profitability with a 51.26% net income margin and attractive valuation metrics including a P/E of 4.57 and P/B of 0.61. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $7.29 versus $6.80 expected, continuing a pattern of strong quarterly performance.
DAC presents a compelling value opportunity with deep discount to book value and consistent earnings outperformance. The company's record $4.6 billion contracted revenue backlog provides visibility, while quarterly dividends of $0.90 per share enhance shareholder returns. Primary risks include shipping industry cyclicality and capital expenditure requirements for fleet expansion. Analyst sentiment is evenly split between Buy and Hold ratings, reflecting the stock's value proposition balanced against sector dynamics.
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 →Danaos is a leading international owner of containerships, providing seaborne transportation services globally. It charters its fleet of vessels to major shipping lines across Asia, Europe, and the Americas.
Read more on DAC →