Applied Digital Corporation vs Southwest Airlines Co — how do they compare? Applied Digital Corporation trades at $30.56 (market cap $8.37B), while Southwest Airlines Co trades at $45.8 (market cap $21.97B). The key difference: Southwest Airlines Co is far larger — about 2.6× Applied Digital Corporation's market cap, and Southwest Airlines Co pays a 1.6% dividend while Applied Digital Corporation pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| APLD | LUV | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $8.37B | $21.97B |
Sector | Technology | Industrials |
52-Week High | $49.65 | $54.80 |
52-Week Low | $13.89 | $29.67 |
Enterprise Value | $11.87B | $25.06B |
Dividend Yield | — | 1.6% |
Signals from Pluang's Aura AI — not financial advice
Applied Digital (APLD) trades at $29.22, up 1.25% with bearish technical signals despite unanimous analyst buy ratings. The company shows explosive revenue growth with Q4 2026 revenue surging 407% to $258.7M but continues posting significant losses with negative profit margins. Recent news highlights $36 billion in contracted AI infrastructure revenue and insider selling activity.
While analyst consensus targets $72.36 (147% upside), the stock faces execution risks from massive capital expenditures, negative cash flow, and challenging profitability metrics. The AI infrastructure build-out offers substantial growth potential but requires careful monitoring of financing needs and construction timelines.
Southwest Airlines (LUV) trades at $47.05, up 0.23% today, with a bullish technical signal and consensus price target of $53.86. Recent Q2 2026 earnings beat expectations with EPS of $0.94 versus $0.51 expected, driven by record revenue. The company maintains a solid liquidity position of $8.73B cash and has declared quarterly dividends of $0.18 per share, with new board appointments signaling strategic focus.
Outlook is positive with projected 2026 net income margin of 2.78% and revenue growth to $30.1B, but risks include fuel cost volatility and competitive pressures. Analyst sentiment is mixed with 42% buy ratings, offering potential upside of 14.5% to the consensus target, though institutional selling by firms like Elliott Management warrants monitoring.
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 →Southwest Airlines is the largest domestic carrier in the United States, as measured by the number of originating passengers boarded. Southwest operates over 700 aircraft in an all-Boeing 737 fleet. Despite expanding into longer routes and business travel, the airline still specializes in short-haul leisure flights, using a point-to-point network. Southwest operates a low-cost carrier business model.
Read more on LUV →