Benchmark Boosts Hut 8 Target to $195 on Massive AI Data Center Deal

Investment bank Benchmark has raised its price target for Bitcoin miner Hut 8 following a huge business update. Equity research analyst Mark Palmer kept a buy rating on the stock and boosted the target price to $195 from $165. This move comes after Hut 8 signed a second 15 year lease worth $9.8 billion for its artificial intelligence data center project in Texas.

The massive deal involves 352 megawatts of IT capacity at the Beacon Point campus in Nueces County. Analysts expect the new lease to bring in about $655 million in yearly net operating income once fully running. Hut 8 shares jumped more than 10 percent following the initial announcement as investors cheered the company's growth in the artificial intelligence sector.

Many Bitcoin miners are shifting toward high performance computing and artificial intelligence because traditional mining margins face heavy pressure from lower coin prices and higher network difficulty. While some competitors are stepping away from mining entirely, Hut 8 keeps its mining operations active alongside its new tech infrastructure ventures. Traders should watch for the company's upcoming earnings report on August 4 for more details on these massive contracts.