Investing

Applied Digital and IREN Climb 6% as the Digital Infrastructure Bid Broadens Past Bitcoin, Core Scientific Gains 4%

Hyperscaler and GPU customers are driving a surprise rotation into digital infrastructure stocks, and the companies benefiting most are not the ones you would expect from a Bitcoin rally.

By David Moadel
Published August 25, 2026, 2:30pm ET · 3 min read

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

A long shot of multiple server racks in a data center, illuminated with striking blue and green lights. The racks on the left are predominantly blue, while those on the right are green, creating a strong color contrast. Many small, bright lights on the server units are visible, indicating active operation, and some racks have a perforated mesh front panel. The scene conveys a high-tech, dynamic, and powerful environment.
Rows of illuminated server racks buzz with activity, symbolizing the immense computational power and infrastructure driving the agentic AI revolution, a key factor in recent semiconductor industry upgrades. © Regissercom / Shutterstock.com

The bid that lifted Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) miners earlier this month is broadening into the AI data center side of the same companies, with hyperscaler and GPU customers doing most of the talking. Broad tech is barely participating, as Invesco QQQ Trust (NASDAQ:QQQ) shares are up 0.43% to $709.38 Tuesday afternoon.

Applied Digital (NASDAQ:APLD) stock is up 6% to $28.48 midday, the purest data center play in the group and the one least dependent on Bitcoin economics. Meanwhile, IREN Limited (NASDAQ:IREN) stock is climbing 6% to $42.04, matching the Applied Digital stock move despite a larger market cap.

In addition, Core Scientific (NASDAQ:CORZ) stock is gaining 4% to $17.93, the clearest evidence of the mining-to-AI shift as the company converts capacity into high-density colocation. Cipher Mining (NASDAQ:CIFR) stock is also participating on the same theme.

Hyperscaler Demand Broadens the Trade

There’s no verified same-day announcement driving Applied Digital, so today’s move reads as a bounce riding the wider digital infrastructure bid. Applied Digital stock had fallen 14% over the prior week through Monday’s close, leaving room for a rebound alongside peers.

IREN Limited is riding the tailwind of its NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA | NVDA Price Prediction) AI Cloud partnership, while Core Scientific benefits from anchor commitments with Advanced Micro Devices (NASDAQ:AMD) and CoreWeave (NASDAQ:CRWV). Cipher Mining, for its part, is pivoting its Black Pearl campus into HPC colocation, adding a fourth name to the group with contracted compute revenue in view (we profiled seven of the power, cooling, and networking suppliers behind this buildout in a free report here: 7 Stocks Powering the AI Boom).

Compute Leasing Separates the Group

Core Scientific designs, builds, and operates large-scale data centers for high-density colocation serving AI and compute-intensive workloads, and is repurposing its remaining mining facilities to support its high-density colocation business. Its anchor colocation customers include CoreWeave, at roughly 590 MW under 12-year take-or-pay contracts, and AMD, at roughly 530 MW under 15-year agreements.

Total leased customer power capacity at Core Scientific runs roughly 1.1 GW across seven U.S. states, with over $24 billion of total potential contracted revenue from current customer commitments. That contracted-revenue backdrop is what separates Core Scientific from Bitcoin-first names still leaning on hash rate.

Applied Digital sits at the opposite end, built as a direct-to-chip liquid-cooled AI campus operator from its Polaris Forge design forward. IREN Limited straddles both models, with a Bitcoin mining base still funding its AI Cloud ramp.

What to Watch Into the Close

Through Monday’s close, Applied Digital stock was up 10% year to date (YTD), IREN Limited stock was up 5% YTD, and Core Scientific stock was up 19% YTD. All three trailed the QQQ ETF, which was up 15% YTD through the same date.

Analyst price targets sit well above current levels, with targets on Applied Digital stock at $74.23, Core Scientific stock at $37.12, and Cipher Mining stock at $32.18. Shareholders can watch for whether Tuesday’s gains hold into the close if QQQ shares keep drifting sideways.

Investors sizing their exposure to this trade may want to keep the volatility in mind. Beta on Applied Digital stock sits at 5.77 and on Core Scientific stock at 5.59, so a modest position size can still deliver outsized swings on days like today. Traders can stay tuned for further hyperscaler contract news, which has been the trigger for the strongest rerating moves in this group.

Contact [email protected] for any questions or corrections.

1INVESTMENTS ARE NOT FDIC INSURED • ARE NOT BANK GUARANTEED • MAY LOSE VALUE

Brokerage and Active investing products offered through SoFi Securities LLC, member FINRA(www.finra.org)/SIPC(www.sipc.org).2The probability of a member receiving $3,000 is 0.028%. If you don’t make a selection in 45 days, you’ll no longer qualify for the promo. Members must fund their account with a minimum of $50.00 to qualify. The probability percentage is subject to decrease. Members are only eligible for the Stock Award promotion upon opening their first brokerage account; subsequent cash brokerage accounts are ineligible for the promo, including for members with multiple accounts.

3Other fees, such as exchange fees, may apply. Please view our fee disclosure to view a full listing of fees.

4There are limitations with fractional shares to consider before investing. During market hours fractional share orders are transmitted immediately in the order received. There may be system delays from receipt of your order until execution and market conditions may adversely impact execution prices. Outside of market hours orders are received on a not held basis and will be aggregated for each security then executed in the morning trade window of the next business day at market open. Share will be delivered at an average price received for executing the securities through a single batched order. Fractional shares may not be transferred to another firm. Fractional shares will be sold when a transfer or closure request is initiated. Please consider that selling securities is a taxable event.

David Moadel

David Moadel is financial writer specializing in stocks, ETFs, options, precious metals, and Bitcoin. David has written well over 1,000 articles for leading online publications, helping investors understand markets, income strategies, and risk.

His work has appeared in The Motley Fool, InvestorPlace, U.S. News & World Report, TipRanks, ValueWalk, Benzinga, Market Realist, TalkMarkets, Finmasters, 24/7 Wall St., and others.

With a master’s degree in education, David has taught at the elementary, high school, and college levels. That teaching background shapes his writing style: clear, educational, and practical. David has also built a loyal social-media audience by providing trustworthy financial content on YouTube, X/Twitter, and StockTwits.

All articles →