Applied Digital Corporation vs Northrop Grumman Corporation — how do they compare? Applied Digital Corporation trades at $31.34 (market cap $8.37B), while Northrop Grumman Corporation trades at $575 (market cap $82.10B). The key difference: Northrop Grumman Corporation is far larger — about 9.8× Applied Digital Corporation's market cap, and Northrop Grumman Corporation pays a 1.63% dividend while Applied Digital Corporation pays none. Which is the better fit depends on your goals.
| APLD | NOC | |
|---|---|---|
Market Cap | $8.37B | $82.10B |
Sector | Technology | Industrials |
52-Week High | $49.65 | $768.02 |
52-Week Low | $13.89 | $496.02 |
Enterprise Value | $11.87B | $96.08B |
Dividend Yield | — | 1.63% |
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.
Northrop Grumman (NOC) trades at $571.58, up 0.68% on the day, with a bullish technical signal driven by moving averages despite overbought RSI readings. The company reported strong Q2 2026 earnings, beating EPS estimates with $7.68 actual versus $6.82 expected, and raised full-year guidance amid a record $105 billion backlog. Fundamentals show robust profitability with a 10.48% net income margin and 26.96% ROE, while valuation metrics like a P/E of 18.17 appear reasonable relative to growth.
Outlook remains positive given defense spending tailwinds and contract wins like the $7.6 billion Sentinel program, though margin pressures and high debt levels pose risks. Analysts are bullish with a $598.57 consensus target, implying ~5% upside from current levels, supported by 20 buy ratings versus 1 sell.
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 →Northrop Grumman is a defense contractor that is diversified across short-cycle and long-cycle businesses. The firm's segments include aeronautics, mission systems, defense services, and space systems. The company's aerospace segment creates the fuselage for the massive F-35 program and produces various piloted and autonomous flight systems. Mission systems creates a variety of sensors and processors for defense hardware. The defense systems segment is a long-range missile manufacturer. Finally, the company's space systems segment produces various space structures, sensors, and satellites.
Read more on NOC →