Benchmark Significantly Raises Bitcoin Mining Firm Hut 8's Price Target to $165

Odaily Planet Daily News: Benchmark has raised the price target for Bitcoin mining firm Hut 8 (HUT) from $85 to $165, citing the company's accelerated commercialization of its AI data center business and the acquisition of long-term AI infrastructure contracts totaling $16.8 billion in value. Analyst Mark Palmer stated that the commercialization progress of Hut 8's Beacon Point AI data center campus in Texas has "transformed the company's valuation logic," significantly enhancing the project's value. Currently, Hut 8's stock price is approximately $97, and Benchmark's new price target implies an upside potential of about 69%. Previously, the stock had fallen nearly 30% over the past six weeks. According to Benchmark's calculations, the redesigned Phase 1 of the Beacon Point campus will support 352MW of IT capacity, a 57% increase from the originally planned 224MW. The base term value of Phase 1 leases for the project is approximately $9.8 billion, with an estimated annualized net operating income of about $655 million. Additionally, Hut 8 has signed a lease agreement with Fluidstack, supported by Google, for the River Bend data center, with a lease value of approximately $7 billion. The combined base term value of the two contracts reaches $16.8 billion, and if tenants exercise the included 5-year renewal options, the potential total value could rise to $42.8 billion. (The Block)