Pomegra
A Landmark Deal for AI Infrastructure
Applied Digital (NASDAQ: APLD) announced on April 23, 2026 that it has entered into a 15-year lease agreement with a new U.S. based high investment-grade hyperscaler at its Delta Forge 1 campus — a 430 MW, 500-plus-acre AI Factory facility. The lease covers 300 megawatts (MW) of critical IT load, purpose-built to support the tenant's artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing (HPC) infrastructure needs. At approximately $7.5 billion in total contracted value, the agreement ranks among the largest single data center lease commitments in the sector.
Portfolio Diversification Reaches New Milestone
The newly signed tenant becomes Applied Digital's second U.S. based investment-grade hyperscaler across its three AI Factory campuses. The addition brings the company's total contracted lease revenue to over $23 billion and introduces a third hyperscale customer into the portfolio — a significant diversification milestone. With this agreement, more than 50% of Applied Digital's total contracted revenue is now backed by investment-grade counterparties, substantially improving the quality and visibility of the company's long-term cash flow profile. The company now operates a multi-tenant, investment-grade hyperscaler customer base that spans its Polaris Forge and Delta Forge platforms.
Delta Forge 1: A Next-Generation AI Factory Campus
Delta Forge 1 represents Applied Digital's most advanced AI Factory campus to date. Spanning more than 500 acres in the southern United States, the facility integrates high-density power delivery, proprietary waterless cooling architecture, and a disciplined operational design engineered from the ground up for large-scale AI workloads. The campus is built to support both training and inference workloads at high density — a critical differentiator as hyperscalers scale increasingly complex AI model deployments. Initial operations at Delta Forge 1 are anticipated to commence in mid-2027, with the 300 MW lease covering the core footprint of the 430 MW total campus capacity.Financing Facilities to Fuel Continued Build-Out
Alongside the lease announcement, Applied Digital disclosed plans to secure two new senior secured credit facilities to fund its ongoing development pipeline. The company expects to enter into an up to $300 million senior secured bridge facility to support continued construction of the 150 MW Building 3 data center at its Polaris Forge 1 campus. Concurrently, an up to $300 million senior secured revolving credit facility is being arranged to fund pre-lease and post-lease development activities across the broader Applied Digital platform, as well as general working capital needs. Both facilities are expected to close promptly through a syndicate of bank lenders on customary market terms.
CEO Highlights Execution Discipline
Wes Cummins, Chairman and CEO of Applied Digital, emphasized the operational focus driving the company's expansion: "We remain focused on delivering operational AI capacity at scale. With this agreement, we now have two U.S. based investment-grade hyperscalers across our portfolio, marking an important step in the continued diversification of our customer base and strengthening the overall quality and visibility of our contracted revenue. Our priority remains execution — bringing capacity online on schedule and operating it with discipline over the long term."Market Context and Long-Term Revenue Visibility
The announcement accelerates Applied Digital's trajectory as a pure-play AI infrastructure operator, coming on the heels of prior major milestones including a $5 billion lease at Polaris Forge 2 in October 2025 and dual CoreWeave lease agreements totaling 250 MW in June 2025. APLD shares were already up 3.54% pre-announcement, outperforming key sector peers on the session. The stock trades above its 200-day moving average of $25.43, reflecting the sustained upward momentum building around the company's AI Factory expansion strategy.
With total contracted revenue now exceeding $23 billion, a multi-campus portfolio spanning three AI Factory sites, and operations at Delta Forge 1 slated for mid-2027, Applied Digital enters the next phase of its buildout with a significantly strengthened revenue backlog and an investment-grade-anchored customer foundation. The company's ability to execute on that timeline will be the defining variable for investors monitoring the AI infrastructure buildout cycle.
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Mentioned tickers: APLD
