JPMorgan Turns Bullish on Bitcoin Mining Stocks, Upgrades Cipher, CleanSpark, and MARA
JPMorgan (JPM) has adopted a more optimistic outlook on select bitcoin (BTC) mining stocks following their third-quarter earnings reports, recent gains in bitcoin prices, and an increase in the network’s hashrate, according to a report released Tuesday.
The bank upgraded Cipher Mining (CIFR) and CleanSpark (CLSK) to “overweight” from “neutral,” signaling strong confidence in their potential for growth. It introduced a new price target of $8 for Cipher and raised CleanSpark’s target to $17 from $10.50.
Marathon Digital Holdings (MARA) also received an upgrade, moving to “neutral” from “underweight,” with its price target increased to $23 from $12.
Conversely, JPMorgan downgraded Iris Energy (IREN) to “neutral” from “overweight” but still raised the stock’s price target to $15 from $9.50. Riot Platforms (RIOT) retained its “overweight” rating, with the price target bumped to $16 from $9.50.
JPMorgan also introduced a new valuation framework for miners, considering a sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) analysis. This methodology factors in each company’s mining operations, land and power assets, and bitcoin holdings (HODL) to provide a more comprehensive assessment.
The market responded positively to the report. Cipher shares climbed over 4% in early trading on Tuesday, CleanSpark gained 3.5%, MARA rose more than 2%, RIOT was up nearly 2%, and IREN saw a modest increase of 0.4%.
