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Neither Applied Digital nor TeraWulf can be called the better buy on the operating figures alone. Applied Digital had more reported capacity live at one campus, while TeraWulf reported a larger near-term construction pipeline and a major long-term lease announcement. But their reporting periods and revenue mixes differ, and the available figures do not include synchronized share prices or valuation multiples. The practical comparison is how much recurring rent each company can deliver, what it will cost to fund that delivery, and how much execution and customer risk investors are accepting.

What the latest operating figures show

The figures below come from Applied Digital’s fiscal year ended May 31, 2026, and TeraWulf’s quarter ended June 30, 2026. They are not matched reporting periods. Applied Digital’s release also reports capacity at June 30, while TeraWulf’s early-July delivery is a later update.

Measure Applied Digital TeraWulf
Operating capacity cited Polaris Forge 1 had 175 MW live at June 30, 2026. Company FY2026 results Lake Mariner had 81 MW of revenue-generating critical IT capacity at June 30; early-July CB-3 delivery raised the total to 102 MW. A further 336 MW was under construction. Company Q2 2026 results
Period revenue figures cited Fiscal Q4 2026 HPC Hosting revenue was $203.0 million: $44.1 million in base rent, $152.4 million in tenant fit-out services, and $6.5 million in tenant recoveries. The release reported $26.2 million of segment operating profit. Company FY2026 results Q2 2026 revenue was $44.8 million, including $31.9 million of HPC lease revenue. Company Q2 2026 results
Cash and debt figures cited The FY2026 filing describes financing needs and significant campus capital requirements; the figures summarized here do not establish a directly comparable unrestricted-cash or net-debt measure. Company FY2026 Form 10-K About $3.0 billion of cash and restricted cash at June 30, 2026. The company’s Q2 presentation calculated $5.7 billion of total debt and $2.7 billion of net debt; those are company-presented measures, and cash includes restricted cash. Q2 results · Q2 investor presentation

“Live,” “revenue-generating,” and “under construction” are not interchangeable measures. A project can be planned or being built without being energized, commissioned, deployed by a tenant, or generating rent. The companies’ filings describe power availability, construction, customer schedules, and financing as dependencies that can affect delivery. Applied Digital FY2026 Form 10-K · TeraWulf Q2 2026 Form 10-Q

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How much of the revenue is recurring rent?

Applied Digital: separate base rent from fit-out work

Applied Digital’s $203.0 million of fiscal Q4 2026 HPC Hosting revenue should not be treated as $203.0 million of recurring rent. The company separately reported $44.1 million of base rent and $152.4 million of tenant fit-out services, with another $6.5 million of tenant recoveries. Fit-out services materially shaped the quarter’s total; the release’s $26.2 million segment operating profit is a separate measure, not a recurring-rent figure. Applied Digital FY2026 results

For an investor assessing durable revenue, the useful follow-up is whether fit-out work is completed and how much rent is recognized as campuses enter service. The annual filing provides the fuller context for leases, projects, costs, and financing. Applied Digital FY2026 Form 10-K

TeraWulf: HPC lease revenue was most, not all, of the quarter

TeraWulf’s $31.9 million of HPC lease revenue was about 71% of its $44.8 million Q2 2026 total. That makes HPC leasing the majority of reported quarterly revenue, but digital-asset activity still contributed to the business mix. TeraWulf’s transition away from bitcoin mining and other digital-asset activity toward HPC leasing is not complete just because lease capacity is being added. Q2 results · Q2 Form 10-Q

Rank #2

What the Anthropic lease does—and does not—mean for TeraWulf

TeraWulf announced a 20-year lease with Anthropic for approximately 401 MW of critical IT capacity at its Justified site. The company cited about $19 billion in contracted revenue over the initial term and up to about $33 billion if both five-year extension options are exercised. Initial delivery was expected in the second half of 2027, with full delivery expected in early 2028. These are announced contract terms and projected delivery dates, not revenue already earned or cash already received. TeraWulf Q2 2026 results

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The extension-dependent figure is not the same as the initial-term amount: reaching it requires exercise of both options. More broadly, a contracted-revenue headline does not by itself establish the timing of rent, project profitability, or free cash flow. Investors should examine lease conditions, credit support, escalators, customer obligations, construction milestones, and financing terms in company filings rather than treating the headline total as a near-term sales forecast. TeraWulf Q2 2026 Form 10-Q

How funding capacity changes the comparison

Both businesses need substantial capital to build data-center campuses and tenant-specific infrastructure. For Applied Digital, its FY2026 filing describes financing requirements and significant capital needs associated with campus development. That makes funding availability, project-level obligations, and additional capital requirements relevant alongside its operating progress. Applied Digital FY2026 Form 10-K

TeraWulf’s approximately $3.0 billion cash-and-restricted-cash figure should be read alongside its debt, not as a standalone measure of spendable funding. The company presentation’s $5.7 billion total debt and $2.7 billion net debt figures use the company’s calculation; the cash total includes restricted cash. Its presentation also includes target or illustrative economics, which should not be mistaken for realized results. TeraWulf Q2 2026 investor presentation · Q2 results

  • Distinguish unrestricted cash from restricted cash and assess where the cash can be used.
  • Check corporate debt separately from project financing, including interest costs, maturities, and obligations tied to construction.
  • Compare remaining construction and fit-out spending with the expected timing of power delivery and rent commencement.
  • Track whether growth is funded through operating cash flow, borrowing, or equity issuance, since dilution can reduce existing shareholders’ stake.
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Which company has the stronger case—and what could go wrong?

Applied Digital’s case

Applied Digital’s reported 175 MW live at Polaris Forge 1 is a tangible operating milestone. The caution is that the cited fiscal-quarter HPC Hosting total included far more fit-out services than base rent, so the revenue headline does not represent a clean recurring-rent run rate. Expansion also leaves delivery, tenant fit-out cost control, and financing needs central to the thesis. FY2026 results · FY2026 Form 10-K

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TeraWulf’s case

TeraWulf reported revenue-generating capacity at Lake Mariner, further capacity under construction, and a large long-term lease announcement. The risks are the time and capital required to deliver future capacity, the difference between contracted and recognized revenue, substantial debt alongside cash that includes restricted amounts, and continued exposure to its legacy digital-asset business as the transition proceeds. Q2 results · Q2 Form 10-Q

Risks common to both

  • Schedule: construction, commissioning, power and interconnection work, and tenant deployment can delay rent-producing operations.
  • Capital intensity: electrical, mechanical, site, and tenant-specific fit-out work needs funding before all planned capacity can earn lease revenue.
  • Customer and contract terms: lease economics depend on operating milestones and the actual enforceable terms, not only announced capacity or contract value.
  • Business transition: for TeraWulf in particular, investors need to follow the mix of HPC leasing and digital-asset activity as operations evolve.

Can investors name a better buy from these figures?

Not responsibly on this evidence alone. A buy decision requires current share prices, market capitalizations, enterprise values, and comparable valuation measures alongside risk-adjusted expectations for rent, costs, capital spending, and dilution. Those synchronized valuation inputs are not established by the cited operating and financial materials, and stock prices can change daily.

The dates also matter. Applied Digital’s comparison point is its fiscal year ended May 31, 2026; TeraWulf’s is the quarter ended June 30, 2026, with a subsequent early-July capacity update. TeraWulf’s investor-relations page showed an October 5, 2026 update about Muskie contracted power, so the Q2 operating comparison does not capture every later development. Review that update and subsequent filings before relying on the Q2 snapshot as current. TeraWulf investor relations

For either stock, the key test is whether operating capacity converts into tenant deployment and recurring rent at a return that justifies the required funding. Headline megawatts and contracted-revenue totals are useful only when considered with delivery dates, costs, debt, customer terms, and the price investors are paying.

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