VNET vs DLR vs APLD Stock Comparison

Vnet, Digital Realty Trust and Applied Digital Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
VNET VNET Group, Inc.
$3.93 -40.8% 1M -59.1% 1Y
Market cap
$1.02B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$1.55B
Div. yield
–
Data Centers Technology
3 wins
APLD Applied Digital Corp.
$17.83 -32.1% 1M -46.7% 1Y
Market cap
$5.69B
P/E
–
Revenue (TTM)
$853.85M
Div. yield
–
Data Centers Technology
1 win

Head to Head

9 decided of 12

Digital Realty Trust leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Digital Realty Trust 5, Vnet 3, Applied Digital 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionVNETDLRAPLDLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $1.02B $63.45B $5.69B DLR
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only -3.0x 83.7x -12.1x –
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS — 60.8x — –
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +1,237.9% +17.4% +286.2% VNET
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months -22.1% 11.2% -54.9% DLR
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 3.7% 2.0% -4.1% VNET
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 3.8x 5.6x -18.4x APLD
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months -59.1% -2.6% -46.7% DLR
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years -24.9%/yr +2.2%/yr -9.6%/yr DLR
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 77.8% 27.6% 101.1% DLR
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 69/100 45/100 36/100 VNET

Percentile Scorecard

VNETDLRAPLD

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisVNETDLRAPLD
Valuation 97 #2 of 38 10 #10 of 11 32 #26 of 38
Growth 74 #10 of 36 67 #4 of 10 51 #18 of 36
Profitability 70 #11 of 34 22 #8 of 10 30 #24 of 34
Financial Health 35 #25 of 38 80 #3 of 11 43 #22 of 38
Shareholder Returns – – 25 #16 of 21
Overall 69 45 36
  • VNET ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing
  • DLR ranked among 11 companies in Infrastructure REITs
  • APLD ranked among 39 companies in Cloud Computing

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodVNETDLRAPLDSPY
1 month -40.8%-2.2%-32.1% -0.8%
3 months -45.2%-10.8%-32.4% +3.5%
6 months -55.5%-11.1%-47.0% +7.0%
Year to date -53.5%+12.8%-27.3% +12.2%
1 year -59.1%-2.6%-46.7% +13.0%
3 years +32.8%+42.7%+270.7% +86.3%
3 years, per year +9.9%+12.6%+54.8% +23.1%
5 years -76.0%+11.3%-39.7% +68.6%
5 years, per year -24.9%+2.2%-9.6% +11.0%
10 years -48.6%+80.8%+20,253.9% +258.0%
10 years, per year -6.4%+6.1%+70.2% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureVNETDLRAPLDSPY
Volatility, 1Y 77.8%27.6%101.1% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 75.4%27.0%95.0% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 2.500.814.41 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y -0.76-0.10-0.46 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -92.1%-51.1%-97.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -72.0%-14.4%-64.1% -1.8%
52-week high $14.03$203.91$49.65 $779.14
52-week low $3.71$147.93$17.83 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleVNETDLRAPLD
P/E now vs peer median -3.1xmedian 29.6x 81.5xmedian 24.3x -11.1xmedian 29.6x
P/S now vs peer median 0.7xmedian 4.2x 9.5xmedian 6.4x 6.2xmedian 4.2x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 6.2xmedian 24.2x 27.0xmedian 15.8x -46.9xmedian 24.2x
P/FCF now vs peer median 0.8xmedian 15.1x -127.5xmedian 18.4x -1.2xmedian 15.1x
P/B now vs peer median 1.8xmedian 3.9x 2.3xmedian 2.3x 3.3xmedian 3.9x
PEG now vs peer median 0.11median 0.38 4.42median 0.72 0.24median 0.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsVNETDLRAPLD
Revenue $1.55B $6.77B $853.85M
Gross profit $316.73M – $273.30M
Operating income $93.26M $986.10M -$303.82M
Net income $623.86M $792.24M -$351.47M
Free cash flow $1.29B -$506.74M -$4.46B
R&D $43.13M – –
EPS (diluted) $-1.27 $2.10 $-1.61
Cash & equivalents $990.51M $1.86B $2.95B
Total debt $9.03B $73.26B $6.38B
Shares (diluted) 268.71M 361.54M 291.56M
Enterprise value -$2.70B $52.40B -$2.50B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricVNETDLRAPLD
P/E -3.1x 81.5x -11.1x
P/FCF 0.8x -127.5x -1.2x
P/Operating cash flow 4.2x 21.8x 22.5x
P/S 0.7x 9.5x 6.2x
P/B 1.8x 2.3x 3.3x
P/Tangible book 1.8x 2.5x 3.3x
EV/EBITDA 6.2x 27.0x -46.9x
EV/EBIT 23.3x 82.5x -28.7x
EV/Revenue 1.8x 12.0x 10.2x
EV/FCF 2.2x -160.6x -2.0x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.3x 27.4x 37.1x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.11 4.42 0.24

Growth

14 metrics
MetricVNETDLRAPLD
Revenue growth (1Y) 1,238% 17.4% 286.2%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 14.1% 9.7% 115.9%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 7.5% – 653.6%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 18.4% – 134.2%
Operating income growth (1Y) -1.2% -40.3% -254.9%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 49.3% 17.3% -87.5%
Net income growth (1Y) 135.8% -42.6% -44.2%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 110.2% 23.2% -88.1%
EPS growth (1Y) -1,591% -46.0% -66.0%
EPS CAGR (3Y) -28.2% 18.5% -46.3%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) -6.4% 24.9% 294.3%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) -5.2% 20.6% 72.3%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 67.9% 19.9% -346.5%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 26.0% 26.1% -272.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricVNETDLRAPLD
Gross margin 20.5% – 32.0%
EBITDA margin 29.5% 44.5% -21.8%
Operating margin 6.0% 14.6% -35.6%
Pretax margin 31.4% 7.8% -40.2%
Net margin -22.1% 11.2% -54.9%
FCF margin 83.5% -7.5% -521.8%
Operating cash flow margin 16.1% 43.8% 27.5%
Return on equity 102.8% 3.1% -21.1%
Return on assets 8.7% 1.6% -3.2%
Return on invested capital 3.7% 2.0% -4.1%
Return on capital employed 2.3% – -3.3%
Asset turnover 0.2x 0.1x 0.1x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 0.4x 3.7x -0.7x
Stock comp / revenue – 1.5% 31.8%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricVNETDLRAPLD
Debt / assets 37.5% 34.2% 54.5%
Debt / equity 4.6x 0.7x 4.0x
Net debt / EBITDA 3.8x 5.6x -18.4x
Debt / FCF 2.1x -36.8x -1.4x
Liabilities / assets 91.8% 48.7% 86.3%
Equity / assets 8.2% 51.3% 13.7%
Interest coverage 1.1x 2.1x -3.1x
Current ratio 1.0x – 2.6x
Quick ratio 0.7x – 1.9x
Cash ratio 0.5x – 1.9x
Altman Z-score -0.03 – 0.46

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricVNETDLRAPLD
Dividend yield – 2.8% –
Net buyback yield – -4.6% -17.4%
Shareholder yield – -1.8% -17.4%
Payout ratio (earnings) – – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – – –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusVNETDLRAPLD
Forward P/E – 60.8xFY2026 –
EPS, next fiscal year $-0.06FY2026 $2.87FY2026 $-1.69FY2026
EPS growth, next FY – -19.8%FY2026 –
EPS growth, the year after – -12.2% –
Revenue, next fiscal year $1.66BFY2026 $7.40BFY2026 $1.00BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +16.9%FY2026 +21.1%FY2026 +64.0%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +35.8% +0.6% +87.8%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersVNETDLRAPLD
Held by institutions 60.7% 100.0% 74.5%
Institutions holding 161 1,325 564
Change in shares held, QoQ +17.5% +18.3% +8.6%
Institutions buying 95 745 339
Institutions selling 48 383 164
Buyers to sellers 1.98 1.95 2.07

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

VNETDLRAPLD
VNET 1.00 0.19 0.49
DLR 0.19 1.00 0.39
APLD 0.49 0.39 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, VNET, DLR and APLD?

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) is the largest by market capitalisation: Vnet (VNET) $1.02B, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) $63.45B, Applied Digital (APLD) $5.69B.

Which company is growing faster?

Vnet (VNET) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Vnet (VNET) +1,237.9%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) +17.4%, Applied Digital (APLD) +286.2%.

Which company is more profitable?

Digital Realty Trust (DLR) has the highest net margin (Vnet (VNET) -22.1%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 11.2%, Applied Digital (APLD) -54.9%). On return on invested capital, Vnet (VNET) leads (Vnet (VNET) 3.7%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 2.0%, Applied Digital (APLD) -4.1%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Digital Realty Trust (DLR) returned the most: Vnet (VNET) -59.1%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) -2.6%, Applied Digital (APLD) -46.7%. Over five years, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) compounded fastest (Vnet (VNET) -24.9%/yr, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) +2.2%/yr, Applied Digital (APLD) -9.6%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) has been the steadiest (Vnet (VNET) 77.8%, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) 27.6%, Applied Digital (APLD) 101.1%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, VNET, DLR and APLD?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Digital Realty Trust (DLR) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.