The CEO of Applied Digital (APLD), Wes Cummins, joined the Schwab Network to discuss their recent deal with Coreweave (CRWV) and accelerating AI adoption.

Applied Digital, founded in 2001, offers data centers, both traditional and next-gen – meaning specifically engineered for AI workloads. The stock has seen a good run in 2025, up around 80% year-to-date and gaining over 220% since last year. Its next earnings report, 4Q25, is due on July 24.

AI has been great for the data center business these last few years. Statista projected worldwide spending on data center systems would hit $260 billion in 2024, a +10% increase from 2023. Companies from Meta (META) to even Rolls-Royce (RLLCF) are pouring money into computing power.

Company Basics

APLD claims to have 400 megawatts (MW) in active construction, with a “future site pipeline” of 1.4+ gigawatts (GW). For context, the NRC calculates that an average megawatt can power 400-900 homes in a year. Goldman Sachs Research published a report in February estimating the global power usage of data centers was around 55 GW and expects a 165% increase in power demand by 2030.

To win customers, Applied Digital advertises cost efficiency, rapid scalability, and “turnkey” Compute as a Service (CAAS). Their clients include Nvidia (NVDA), Dell (DELL), Intel (INTL), Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE), and more.

Cummins emphasized that Applied Digital goes to “the source” of power, rather than building in population centers – thus a campus in, say, North Dakota, which also comes with the benefits of colder weather. APLD’s website says their centers are “strategically located near renewable energy sources” to minimize their carbon footprint and ensure a stable power supply.

Nvidia > Coreweave > Applied Digital

Coreweave (CRWV), which offers AI cloud computing services, announced on June 2 a $7B infrastructure agreement with APLD. Nvidia has a 7% stake in Coreweave. CRWV signed two long-term lease contracts for 250 MW of IT load at its ND campus, which is designed for up to 400 MW of capacity. The agreement is for 15 years.

Adding to trader excitement, Coreweave reported a 5.5% stake in Applied Digital in regulatory filings this week, or about 13.1 million shares.

Together, the three make the main links of the AI supply chain: chips from Nvidia, data centers built from those chips by Applied Digital, and cloud computing from Coreweave using those data centers. The only piece missing from the puzzle is a substantial energy player.

Looking Ahead

Cummins says APLD continues to see “really high demand,” and they are focused on recruiting hyperscaler clients. After a setback for the sector during the DeepSeek sell-off, he says AI adoption has only accelerated. ChatGPT is getting “over a billion” queries per day, doing in two years what it took Google (GOOGL) eleven.

“This adoption curve…looks like a straight up line” right now, he adds.

Investors must decide if Applied Digital is becoming a major player in the industry with this latest deal. Already having data centers built puts them ahead of the curve for many, but can it continue to scale? And as chip innovation continues, will it be able to keep up with the latest and greatest offerings, or will its first-mover advantage dwindle?

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